Jeremy Corbyn faces backlash over Labour reshuffle as MPs are welcomed back

Jeremy Corbyn's reshuffle saw 10 MPs who quit Labour's front bench return last night (9 October), just weeks after the left-winger leader was re-elected.

The returnees include shadow labour minister Jack Dromey, shadow transport minister Pat Glass and shadow children's minister Emma Lewell-Buck.

"I am pleased to announce the appointment of 21 MPs to our frontbench, 14 of whom are women and four of whom are from the black and minority ethnic community," Corbyn said.

"I welcome back the 10 who have returned, and look forward to working with the eight talented MPs joining the frontbench for the first time."

The Labour leader said he expected to make more appointments to his top team as part of a major post-election shake-up.

The process has also seen Sir Keir Starmer return to the front bench as shadow Brexit secretary.

But the reshuffle has not been without controversy. Corbyn sacked well-respected Rosie Winterton as his chief whip on Thursday night. Nick Brown, who served as Labour's chief whip under Gordon Brown, took her place.

Conor McGinn and Holly Lynch resigned as Labour whips in protest over the axing of Winterton. Brown is expected to meet two other whips Alan Campbell and Mark Tami later today in a bid to stop them also quitting.

A Labour source told reporters that McGinn, the MP for St Helens North, was "going to be sacked anyway". McGinn accused Corbyn of attempting to "bully him into submission" earlier in the year.

More than 60 Labour MPs quit Corbyn's top team in July partly in protest over his performance during the EU referendum. A vote of "no confidence" was later held, with 172 MPs backing the motion.

Self-styled "moderate" Labour MPs could form a so called "shadow shadow cabinet" to hold the government to account, while opposing Corbyn's leadership.

"I respect colleagues who want to make their voice heard from different places, whether it's the backbench, the mid bench, through select committees, or on the front bench," Starmer told BBC One's Andrew Marr show yesterday.