Sadiq Khan blames Labour defeat on Corbyn and ‘failure to tackle anti-Semitism’

Sadiq Khan has blamed Labour’s “catastrophic” defeat on Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and the “repeated failure to tackle anti-Semitism”.

The Mayor of London said his party’s election performance, which left them with 203 MPs nationwide, had “failed … the sick, the poorest and the vulnerable”.

Writing on Facebook, the former MP for Tooting said: “If we are truly honest with ourselves, we knew in our hearts that Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was deeply unpopular with the British people and that we were extremely unlikely to form a Labour government last night.

“Labour’s shocking and repeated failure to tackle anti-Semitism, and our inability to put forward a credible and believable set of priorities for governing have made a major contribution to the scale of this defeat.”

He added: “This will not be a quick or easy job, and anyone who says they know all the answers today is not credible, whether they are blaming Brexit alone or anything else.”

Mr Khan is the latest in a long line of Labour figures to criticise Mr Corbyn since election results started rolling in on Thursday evening.

Phil Wilson, who lost Tony Blair’s former seat of Sedgefield to the Tories, said attempts by the leadership to put the result down to Brexit was “mendacious nonsense”.

“Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership was a bigger problem. To say otherwise is delusional. The party’s leadership went down like a lead balloon on the doorstep,” he said.

After losing former Labour stronghold Stoke-on-Trent North, Ruth Smeeth said: “This is a disaster. Jeremy Corbyn should resign now before his own count is in.”