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| At loggerheads: Hilary Benn and Jeremy Corbyn |
Whether that is sincerely because they believe that Corbyn cannot lead Labour to a General Election win or simply opportunism from those who never really supported him is a matter of conjecture.
However, Hilary Benn, who precipitated the coup with a 1am phone call on Sunday morning has hardly been Corbyn's most loyal follower. (Benn declared he had no confidence in Corbyn's leadership and was promptly sacked.)
When he made his speech on military action on Syria – directly defying his leader's line on the issue – many saw the move as a public challenge to Corbyn's leadership.
Benn insisted on the Andrew Marr Show that he didn't intend to stand as leader but, when asked by Marr if he was leading a coup, he stopped short of denial, preferring to say that he wouldn't use those words.
How this will play out in the UK remains to be seen.
It is only nine months since Corbyn won the party leadership with a massive endorsement (251,417 votes)in the popular vote and an online petition in support of Corbyn had garnered 173,000 supporters at the time of writing.
Benn – the the Shadow Cabinet leader of the unsuccessful Remain – was quick to note that Corbyn “didn't put much energy” into the EU debate, though deputy shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who is an arch ally of Corbyn, insisted that Labour had brought their voters out.
Benn's resignation was quickly followed by shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander,
Gloria De Piero with the young people and voter registration brief and shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray, Labours only MP for a Scottish constituency.
Meanwhile, deputy leader Tom Watson (who is not considered a natural supporter of Corbyn) was incommunicado, having spent the weekend partying at the Glastonbury Festival.
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