THE deputy leader of Worcester City Council has signed a letter calling on Jeremy Corbyn to quit - saying unless he goes Labour will "fail" in a general election.

Councillor Joy Squires, who stood for parliament last year in Worcester, wants the embattled Labour leader to resign.

Nearly 60 Labour parliamentary candidates have signed the note, including former hopefuls in the Midlands, South East, Scotland and Wales, stating that the party needs a leader viewed as "a credible Prime Minister".

Mr Corbyn is still clinging onto his job despite losing two thirds of his entire shadow cabinet, with more than 40 MPs resigning over his leadership since Sunday.

Today up to 150 Labour MPs are expected to back a motion of 'no confidence' in his leadership.

But amid the party's unprecedented state of crisis the letter is a fresh blow to his position, with 57 parliamentary candidates having co-signed it.

It states: "We admire the service Jeremy Corbyn has offered to our party as leader in the past year, and his long service as an MP and within the union movement.

"However we believe we must accept that we cannot achieve our shared ambitions for the future of the United Kingdom, without a leader able to command the confidence of the country.

"That is why we believe Labour must seek a change of leadership,"

Councillor Squires was selected to try and wrestle the Worcester seat back from Conservative Robin Walker at last year's general election and came second, 5,646 votes short.

There is widespread Labour unease that if a snap election is called once the current shambolic state of Westminster is addressed, contesting it with Mr Corbyn in charge could prove fatal for the opposition party.

It comes as Mr Corbyn is facing fresh calls to quit from more senior Labour Party figures in Worcestershire.

Councillor Richard Udall, the chairman of Worcestershire County Council's Labour group, has also urged him to step down.

"Members should owe loyalty to the party, not the leader," he said.

"For the sake of the party and for those who need us the most, Jeremy must go."

The left-leaning Daily Mirror has also called upon him to resign, using their front page to say "Britain is in crisis" and "for the sake of the country" Labour needs a fresh face.

The entire fallout was triggered by dismal backing for Remain among Labour's voting heartlands in the EU referendum - followed by claims Mr Corbyn deliberately watered down his party's opposition to Brexit.

Mr Corbyn sacked his shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn in the early hours of Sunday, triggering waves of frontbench resignations.

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