Labour’s Kerry Pollard has joined 57 of the party's former parliamentary candidates calling on Jeremy Corbyn to resign as leader.

They have signed an open letter which indicates Labour would currently 'fail' in a general election and needs a leader who would be seen as a 'credible Prime Minister'.

Mr Pollard, who was elected MP at the 1997 general election and held the seat until his defeat at the 2005 general election, said the main job of the leader is to become PM and to 'keep the Tories out of number 10'.

He added: "I did not support Jeremy when the election for leader first took place and now think he should resign for the sake of our country and party.

"I believe Jeremy is an honourable man. I often used to sit on the same back bench as him when in Parliament and admired him for the causes he espoused - he certainly was a tireless campaigner and a fierce critic on many issues of the government we were both part of.

"For me it is not the issues he espouses - I would support many of them - but that he is not a natural, gifted or inspirational leader.

"I do not want the party I love and have been a member of for almost 50 years and served as an elected representative for at all levels of government to remain forever in opposition - without power you can do none of the things that are needed, 300,000 homes a year, a better funded and staffed NHS, reviving our manufacturing base in the midlands and the north, closing tax loopholes - I could go on.

"My firm belief is that as long as he is leader Labour will never be elected to form a Government."

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.

The Labour leader lost a confidence vote among MPs on Tuesday night, has been told to go by all of his recent predecessors and was told by David Cameron to quit yesterday in the 'national interest'.

But amid the party's unprecedented state of crisis the letter is a fresh blow to his position.

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,"

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.

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.