Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet faces slew of resignations as Jonathan Reynolds, Stephen Doughty and Kevan Jones leave Labour’s front bench
A slew of resignations from Labour's front bench has followed leader Jeremy Corbyn's first shadow cabinet reshuffle.
Shadow rail minister Jonathan Reynolds, shadow foreign office minister Stephen Doughty and Kevan Jones, a shadow defence minister, are the first casualties of Corbyn's reshuffle, which concluded after over 30 hours of deliberations.
Announcing the news, Reynolds said: "On reflection regarding yesterday's Labour reshuffle, I have decided that it's best if I serve the Party as a backbencher. I've written to Jeremy this morning to let him know."
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In the letter, Reynolds said that he appreciated Corbyn's need for greater discipline on the frontbench, but that due to this it would be more appropriate for him to serve as a backbencher.
Reynold's resignation comes after a reshuffle that consisted of over 30 hours of deliberations, with reports of more resignations to follow.
Meanwhile, Doughty resigned his post live on the BBC Daily Politics show, saying "lies" were being told by Corbyn's team and that resigning was the "honourable thing to do" after having been angered by McFadden's sacking.
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For his part, Jones handed in his resignation over the issue of "the UK's nuclear deterrent". While he respects "those like [Corbyn] who advocate a unilateralist position", he does not agree with that view, he wrote to the Labour leader.
And it could get much worse, with bookmarker Betway now running odds on the next shadow cabinet minister to resign, with Hilary Benn favourite at 7/2, and Maria Eagle not far behind on 6/1.
Yesterday Corbyn sacked two of his most outspoken shadow cabinet members, Pat McFadden and Michael Dugher, which resulted in a chorus of criticism directed at Corbyn.
The criticism may be causing the least of Corbyn's upset, however, given the resignation of the shadow rail minister and his overwhelming love for everything locomotive.
2nd month running I'm mentioned on front page of Rail Magazine. Great read on way back from @EastMidsLabour #EMlab15 pic.twitter.com/nptoyz35K6
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 24, 2015