Jeremy Corbyn should be given a chance to lead, Chuka Umunna says

The former leadership contender said Mr Corbyn should be given at least a year

Former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna (AFP)

Jeremy Corbyn should not be subject to leadership challenge in his first year in the job, Chuka Umunna has said.

The former shadow business secretary – now a leading backbencher – said Mr Corbyn had the support of members and that he “deserves a chance”.

He however said the Labour MPs’ views on some political issues were more in line with those of the electorate than Mr Corbyn.

“Clearly Jeremy has a very strong support amongst our membership. But then if you look at the parliamentary Labour party they have a direct mandate from 9.3m Labour voters," he told ITV1’s The Agenda programme on Monday night.

Jeremy Corbyn responds to David Cameron at PMQs on 24 February

“If you look at the research on things like Trident the parliamentary party would be closer to the views of the voters than the members and there's that tension."

“I think the guy deserves a chance to see what he can do. He hasn't been in the job for year yet. I think most members of the parliamentary Labour party would agree with that.”

While Mr Corbyn has strong support from the membership – higher than when he was first elected, according to the latest polling – he has struggled to find support amongst Labour MPs.

Some of the leader’s internal opponents want to launch a coup immediately, for fear he will change the party’s rules to make it harder to remove him.

The Financial Times reports today that Mr Corbyn’s team expects an attempt to oust him “sooner rather than later” – possibly other the summer.

The Sunday Times reports that the leader's opponents belive he is likely to be on the ballot paper for any contest.

“You keep shooting until he is dead,” an unnamed MP told the Sunday Times.

“If he got on the ballot paper and won we would just have to go at him again and just keep doing it until he loses.”

Other plotters believe it would be seen as undemocratic to attempt to overthrow the leader while he still had the support of the vast majority of the party – and feel it would be prudent to wait.

Mr Umunna’s suggestion that a challenge should not occur in the first year of Mr Corbyn’s leadership would conceivably allow one to take place just before the party’s conference later this year.

The conference would likely be the point at which any rule change cementing Mr Corbyn’s leadership would be approved.

Mr Umunna previously stood for Labour leader but dropped out of the contest, citing pressure on his family. He has not categorically ruled out standing again.

Last week Dan Jarvis, who is talked about in Westminster as a potential challenger to Mr Corbyn, outlined his economic views – in a profile-raising speech to the think-tank Demos.

There was good news for the Labour leader yesterday after an ICM phone poll showed Labour drawing level with the Tories for the first time since he was elected leader.

The firm that conducted the poll however warned it might suffer from methodological issues.