A LABOUR frontbencher insisted Jeremy Corbyn led an ineffectual “party of protest” after official membership figures plunged by a whopping 23,000 this year, drawing attention to its much larger membership under Mr Corbyn.

Shadow Treasury minister Darren Jones played down the appeal of the former leader’s left-wing policies today after the party’s national executive committee heard the total had fallen to just over 366,000 from a high of more than half a million.

Labour has faced criticism from members over its response to the invasion of Gaza and for ditching its £28 billion Green Prosperity Plan.