Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson has accused some of Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing supporters of deserting him - and urged them to stay loyal.
Mr Watson, Labour MP for West Bromwich East, insisted Labour could win a general election with Mr Corbyn as party leader, despite the party’s devastating by-election loss in Copeland last week.
He said there should be no leadership challenge, and urged the party to unify.
But he expressed frustration with people who supported Mr Corbyn in the past, but now appeared to be deserting him.
The Black Country MP said: “If I’ve got some frustrations, it’s that those people that are Jeremy’s cheerleaders, that made sure that he was elected for the second time last September, they should be sticking with their leader in the bad times, not just the good.”
Speaking to journalist Robert Peston on ITV, Mr Watson criticised Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey, who previously backed Mr Corbyn but has now suggested the Labour leader could resign if his poll ratings don’t improve.
Mr Watson said: “Where’s Len McCluskey defending his leader in their difficult time?
“It shouldn’t be just down to me, who represents a different tradition in the Labour party, defending our leader.”
Mr Watson comes from might be called the centre-left tradition within the party, while Mr Corbyn's supporters have sometimes defined themselves as the "radical left" or simply as left-wing.
Mr Watson defended Labour MPs, who have been accused by some of Mr Corbyn’s supporters of undermining the leader.
He said: “Our Parliamentary Labour party is not actually the problem.
“Part of the problem is it’s the team that got Jeremy elected that seem to be peeling away from him and I just say to them, they should stick by their leader like everyone else is.”
John McDonnell claims there's a "soft coup" against Jeremy Corbyn
Meanwhile, Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, a supporter of Mr Corbyn, has blamed a “soft coup” involving “an alliance between elements in the Labour Party and the Murdoch media empire” for Labour’s problems winning over voters.
In a column written for the Labour Briefing website, he warned: “It is more important to them that they regain control of the Party than it is to win elections.”
Mr McDonnell said: “We have to alert party members and supporters that the soft coup is underway. It’s planned, co-ordinated and fully resourced. It is being perpetrated by an alliance between elements in the Labour Party and the Murdoch media empire, both intent on destroying Jeremy Corbyn and all that he stands for.
“The coup is not being waged up front in public but strictly behind the scenes. Having learned the lesson of the last coup attempt - that a direct attack on Jeremy and his policies will provoke a backlash from many party members - the coup perpetrators are this time round pursuing a covert strategy.
“The aim of these covert coup plotters is to undermine the support Jeremy has secured among Labour Party members, and also importantly to undermine support from Labour voters. Undermining support for Jeremy from Labour voters is important to the plotters because their objective is to ensure Jeremy trails in the polls and can’t win elections. In this way they can destroy morale among party members and their confidence in him.”
The column was published online on Sunday February 26. The next day, Mr McDonnell said those were no longer his opinions.
A spokesman for Mr McDonnell said: “This article was written over a week ago in response to the intervention from Tony Blair. It was published in print last week and only went online last night.
“However, as John said yesterday he wants us all to focus on party unity following last week’s by-election results. And he is looking to reach out in the coming days to those across all sections of the party and none.”
