- Tony Blair tore into Jeremy Corbyn over last week's rout by the Tories, the worst election showing since 1935
- The former PM warned that Labour faces an existential crisis if the party does not root out the hard-Left
- Mr Blair branded Mr Corbyn's Brexit stance 'comical' and published a damning report on the party's failure
- He finally admitted that Brexit will happen, telling fellow Remainers in a stark message: 'We have lost'
Tony Blair today delivered a lacerating verdict on Jeremy Corbyn's 'comical' leadership and branded Labour a 'cult' - as he finally admitted defeat on Brexit.
The former PM, who won three elections, tore into his successor for turning the party into a 'glorified protest movement'.
He said the astonishing rout at the hands of the Tories last week - the worst performance since 1935 - was a source of 'shame', warning that Labour faces total destruction if it does not evict the hard-Left.
In a stark message to Remainers, Mr Blair drew a line under years of trying to reverse Brexit. 'We have lost,' he said.
The vicious attack came as Mr Corbyn and his extremist clique of advisers faced massive pressure to stand aside immediately in the wake of the battering from voters.
There are mounting fears among moderates that the leader and his allies are clinging on to try to control the contest for his replacement - and confirm the icy grip of the Left on the UK's main opposition party.
Mr Blair put Mr Corbyn on notice that his planned 'process of reflection' before standing down as leader in the new year will cause 'irreparable damage' if it buries the real reasons for the December 12 humiliation.
It came as Emily Thornberry and Keir Starmer dramatically entered the battle for Labour's top job today by condemning Jeremy Corbyn's disastrous election strategy.
In a major speech, former prime minister Tony Blair tore into Jeremy Corbyn over the the election, in which Labour suffered its heaviest defeat since 1935
Moderates fear Mr Corbyn, pictured leaving his London home today, is clinging on to cement the grip of the hard-Left on Labour
Jeremy Corbyn being re-sworn in as an MP yesterday
Mr Blair, who is the only Labour leader to have won a general election in the last 45 years, gave a speech this morning as he published a damning report on the party's failure in the election.
It criticises the 'sectarian ultra-left politics' that have taken over the party, blaming Mr Corbyn for driving away traditional supporters and says: 'Labour needs not just a different driver, but a different bus.'
Millionaire lawyer Sir Keir Starmer claims he's not too posh to lead Labour
Opposition Labour party shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer (pictured above) has said the party did not tackle the Brexit debate strongly enough
Sir Keir Starmer attempted to highlight his humble roots today as he set out his stall to become Labour leader with a pitch to hardline Corbynistas.
The Oxford-educated lawyer, 57, who owns homes in London and Surrey worth more than £2million, revealed he is 'seriously considering' entering the leadership race that will take place in the new year.
Distrusted by hard left fans of Mr Corbyn, he pitched himself as a unity candidate, attacking 'factionalism'.
In an attempt to woo suspicious Corbynistas who blame the hardline Remainer for Labour's muddled message on Brexit, he said he did not want the party to 'over-steer' to the right.
And he tried to distance himself from the era of Tony Blair, telling the BBC this morning the party could not afford to go back to 'some bygone age'.
Asked whether a knighted lawyer can reach out to working class voters the party lost to the Tories in last week;s election, he told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'As for the sort of middle-class thrust, as you know, my dad worked in a factory, he was a toolmaker, and my mum was a nurse, and she contracted a very rare disease early in her life that meant she was constantly in need of NHS care.
'So, actually, my background isn't what people think it is.
'I know what it's like. I actually never had been in any workplace other than a factory until I left home for university. I'd never been in an office.
'So the idea that somehow I personally don't know what it's like for people across the country in all sorts of different circumstances is just not borne out.'
It comes as centrists and Corbynites alike fight over the soul of the party in the wake of last week's car crash election result.
Yvette Cooper, who was a shadow minister under Gordon Brown, also revealed today she is considering a run at the top job.
Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry also confirmed she would be contesting the party leadership.
Mr Blair told an audience in central London that the result 'marks a moment in history' and was 'no ordinary defeat for Labour' as the party undergoes a battle to replace Mr Corbyn and diagnose the causes of the disaster.
'The takeover of the Labour Party by the far left turned it into a glorified protest movement with cult trimmings, utterly incapable of being a credible government,' he said.
'The result has brought shame on us.'
Shadow foreign secretary Ms Thornberry today complained that allowing the election to happen was an 'act of catastrophic political folly', claiming she had warned against it privately as she bid to lead Labour.
Meanwhile, millionaire shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir highlighted his humble roots and denied he is middle class as he pitched to hardline Corbynistas.
And former Cabinet minister Yvette Cooper also suggested she will join the fray, vowing to reconnect the party with northern voters in the wake of the rout at the hands of the Tories.
Mrs Thornberry became the first contender formally to declare today, penning an article for the Guardian in which she desperately dismissed the idea her arch-Remainer status would be a barrier to resurrecting Labour after its rout in working-class Leave heartlands.
But she is already embroiled in damaging spat with ex-Labour MP Caroline Flint, who has accused her of branding Brexit voters 'stupid'.
In 2014 Mrs Thornberry triggered a 'snobbery' row by tweeting an apparently mocking picture of a white van and England flag outside a house in Rochester.
The post-mortem on Labour's dismal defeat - its worst showing since 1935 - continued apace today, with Tony Blair warning the party faces 'oblivion' unless it breaks the stranglehold of the hard Left.
Former Cabinet minister John Denham also delivered a damning verdict on Labour activists, saying most looked down on patriotism and viewed English people as 'knuckle dragging Neo Nazis'.
Labour MPs last night turned on Mr Corbyn over the humiliating election result last week and his reaction to it.
They vented their fury at Jeremy Corbyn last night in a volcanic Commons meeting, placing blame for their election humiliation on him and his 'economically illiterate' manifesto.
Mary Creagh, the former Labour MP for Wakefield, also collared Mr Corbyn outside Parliament, blasting him for his election performance and telling him to stand down immediately, while adding that every day he stays as leader is damaging to the party.
Last night was the first time Mr Corbyn had faced his 202 remaining MPs since their crushing defeat by Boris Johnson's Tories and they tore him to shreds in a fiery meeting.
Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves told Mr Corbyn that he was to blame for the election humiliation, describing his manifesto as 'economically illiterate' and saying the party needed radical change and a leader that 'actually wants to win'.
Rebellious MPs also dismissed Mr Corbyn's claims that the defeat - the party's worst since 1935 - was down to Brexit and media hostility.
Mr Corbyn apologised to the fractious meeting, but failed to win them over, with veteran critic Dame Margaret Hodge describing the meeting as 'on the whole it was fury, despair, miserable'.
Mr Blair said today Corbyn's complicated and ambiguous stance on Brexit had angered both Remainers and Leavers.
'We pursued a path of almost comic indecision, alienated both sides of the debate leaving our voters without guidance or leadership,' he said.
'The absence of leadership on what was obviously the biggest question facing the country then reinforced all the other doubts about Jeremy Corbyn.'
Mr Blair said: 'The choice for Labour is to renew itself as the serious, progressive, non-Conservative competitor for power in British politics, or retreat from such an ambition, in which case over time it will be replaced,' he warned.
'So, at one level, sure let's have a period of 'reflection', but any attempt to whitewash this defeat, pretend it is something other than it is, or the consequence of something other than the obvious, will cause irreparable damage to our relationship with the electorate.'
The report based on polling and focus group research identifies five pillars of 'northern discomfort' including Brexit that Labour suffered in the election, which saw dozens of seats in its heartlands, including Mr Blair's former Sedgefield seat, snatched by the Tories.
It concedes that Mr Corbyn did not 'cause Labour's crisis' which has 'been brewing for some years' but criticises his neutral Brexit stance, perceived associations with extremism and allegations of a lack of patriotism for creating a 'lethal mix'.
To eject Prime Minister Boris Johnson from Downing Street, the report says, Mr Corbyn was tasked with reversing Labour's decline in the Midlands and the north of England.
'Instead, his leadership and his political strategy achieved precisely the opposite. They drove even more traditional Labour supporters away from the party,' the report by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change states.
'Our research shows that the breach need not be permanent, but simply changing the leader will not be enough.
'The problems go far deeper; and so must the solutions. Labour needs not just a different driver, but a different bus.
'The first task is to discard the sectarian ultra-left politics that has taken the party over and condemned it to the wilderness of opposition. Only then can Labour begin the journey back to government.'
Mr Corbyn has sought to defend his manifesto, which included the renationalisation of key utilities as being 'extremely popular', and blame Brexit for having dominated the debate.
Mr Blair, who is the only Labour leader to have won a general election in the last 45 years, gave a speech this morning as he published a damning report on the party's failure in the election
But the report for Mr Blair's organisation says the EU was not the 'main explanation' and instead criticises the current leader 'and the politics he represents'.
Only 24 per cent of voters polled in the report believed Mr Corbyn is patriotic, with focus group participants criticising his perceived associations with the IRA and terror groups.
The fatal London Bridge terror attack during the campaign had 'real cut-through', the report says, with perceptions being that Mr Corbyn's stance was weak.
His policies were individually popular, polling suggested, but voters felt they lacked credibility when taken together, with 22 per cent thinking the ideas were both good in principle and that Labour could be trusted to spend the money wisely.
A Labour source defended Mr Corbyn and blamed Mr Blair for having overseen the start of Labour's decline.
'In 2017 we saw the biggest swing to Labour since 1945 and more people voted for Labour under Jeremy, both in this election and in 2017, than Ed Miliband in 2015, Gordon Brown in 2010 or Tony Blair in 2005,' the source said.
'As with Scotland, the decline in Labour support in the North discussed in this report started under Tony Blair. While the party undergoes a period of reflection, perhaps Tony Blair should reflect on his own role.'
Who is in the frame for the Labour leadership?
Sir Keir Starmer
The shadow Brexit secretary was an out-and-out Remainer who frequently clashed with Corbyn's inner circle over his overt support for a second referendum.
The 57-year-old lawyer, a former director of public prosecutions, was kept largely out of sight during the election campaign as the party tried, unsuccessfully, to hold on to Leave seats in the north.
Distrusted by hard left fans of Mr Corbyn, the Holborn and St Pancras MP set out his stall to be a unity candidate, attacking 'factionalism' and saying the party needed to include both Momentum and fans of Tony Blair.
And he dangled a carrot in front of Corbynites, saying he did not want the party to move too far rightwards.
He said he did not want a return to the era of Tony Blair, telling the BBC this morning: 'I don't need someone else's name tattooed on my head to make decisions.'
But he might face difficulty if he is seen as not left wing enough, or if the party feels it needs a northern voice to win back seats.
Rebecca Long-Bailey
The shadow business secretary is seen as the 'continuity' candidate, having been closely involved in Labour's lurch to the Left.
Frequently deployed on media, the 40-year-old's career has been pushed by shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who has long tipped her as a future leader.
She is expected to portray herself as the torchbearer for Jeremy Corbyn's legacy, and will be boosted if the pact with close friend Angela Rayner - potentially a rival - is confirmed.
Given Labour's dire need to reconnect with its traditional heartlands, her northern constituency and accent will also be selling points.
Lisa Nandy
The Wigan MP washed her hands of the Corbyn project some time ago - which could be a boon given its humiliating failure in the election.
But the 40-year-old has maintained a high media profile, and has strong left-wing credentials away without being marked on the extreme.
While the leadership desperately tried to stay neutral, she pushed hard for Labour to adopt a more Leave policy and accept the verdict of the referendum.
Ms Nandy was involved in unsuccessful talks to support Theresa May's deal, but has indicated she would not support Boris Johnson's harder Brexit.
However, some MPs complain that she is 'lightweight' and failed to make good on her rhetoric about allowing Brexit to happen.
Emily Thornberry
The shadow foreign secretary represents the Islington seat next to Mr Corbyn's, and has been a staunch supporter of his leadership.
A lively performer in Parliament, she has admirers among Labour's clutch of metropolitan MPs.
However, she has been tainted by spats over her attitude towards working-class voters in the past - including a tweet apparently mocking a white van and England flag outside a house in Rochester.
Ousted Don Valley MP Caroline Flint accused her of privately branding Brexit voters 'stupid', although she has angrily denied the claim.
Ms Thornberry's London seat and vocal pro-Remain position could tell against her - although the membership is generally pro-EU.
Jess Phillips
The Birmingham Yeardley MP is a confident performer in the media and the House of Commons chamber.
Her straight-talking, no-nonsense manner and Brummie accent have won her many fans and she was one of the first names mentioned as a contender after Mr Corbyn announced he would step down.
But the 38-year-old's willingness to criticise the leader has won her few friends among Corbynistas, with a groundswell of opposition to her taking over.
She has been the target of high levels of online abuse from people across the political spectrum, including death threats.
She also has no experience of the party's front bench, something that could either count against her or for her, depending on the views of the members.
In March she said she would 'be a good prime minister'. At a time when several moderate MPs had quit Labour she added: 'I feel like I can't leave the Labour Party without rolling the dice one more time. I owe it that. But it doesn't own me. It's nothing more than a logo if it doesn't stand for something that I actually care about – it's just a f***ing rose'.
Yvette Cooper
A Cabinet minister under Gordon Brown, Ms Cooper is very much a survivor of the government years of Labour.
That is her Achilles heel in a party led by people who would rather forget it was ever in power under Blair and Brown.
Since being a minister, Ms Cooper has reinvented herself as the chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee, presiding over some forensic questioning of ministers over issues including the Windrush scandal.
Ms Cooper, who is married to former minister Ed Balls, told the BBC's Today programme this morning she would decide over the Christmas break whether to run for the leadership.
'I think we clearly do have to change because it hasn't worked,' she said.
Ms Cooper said she would probably take a different view from Tony Blair - who used a speech today to urge against a 'whitewash' of the party's worst general election result since 1935 - and also a different view to the recent approach of the party.
Clive Lewis
The Norwich South MP, 48, has managed to ingratiate himself into the Corbyn machine despite a major falling out over Brexit.
In 2017 he quit as shadow business minister after he rebelled against Mr Corbyn to oppose triggering Brexit negotiations.
But he returned the following year to join shadow chancellor John McDonnell's economic team.
A sexism scandal from 2017 could be a major hindrance in a ladership race likely to feature several female candidates. He was forced to apologise 'unreservedly' for telling an activist to 'get on your knees b****' at an event during Labour conference.
Footage of a Momentum event in Brighton showed Mr Lewis making the remark to a man on stage as the audience laughed.
The then backbencher admitted his language had been 'offensive and unacceptable' after facing a wave of condemnation from colleagues.
Angela Rayner
Ms Rayner has been MP for Ashton-under-Lyne since 2015, has drawn heavily on her time as a one-time struggling teenage mother - and proudly welcomed her own granddaughter at the age of just 37 with a tweet jokingly referring to herself as 'Grangela'.
The married mother-of-three was just 16 when she had her first son, Ryan, and has told how becoming pregnant so young 'saved' her.
Her teenage relationship with Ryan's father ended quickly and she has since married Unison official Mark Rayner.
She has been shadow education secretary since 2016 and quietly built up a fan base within the party.
While she has apparently made a pact to run as Ms Long-Bailey's deputy she could still decide to have a punt at the top job itself.
But it would mean battling her London flatmate, which could make for difficult nights in.
David Lammy
The outspoken Tottenham MP would become the first black leader of a major UK political party if he won. But he is very much an outside bet.
Despite nominating Jeremy Corbyn for the leader's ballot in 2015 he is very much a hardcore Remainer and last night attacked the 'faith-based cult' that has strung up at the head of the party.
He is also outspoken on race politics. In April he likened members of the Brexiteer European Research Group (ERG) of Conservative MPs to the Nazis and 'white supremacists'
He also had a war of words with presenter Stacey Dooley over a Comic Relief trip to Africa, accusing her of using Instagram to make herself look like a 'heroine' trying to save 'victim' black children in Uganda.
Last year he led criticisms of the Government for threatening to deport migrants who have spent nearly their entire lives in the UK.
But the London-born politician then received an abusive letter branding him 'vile' and telling him to 'go back to the country of your forbears'.
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