Jeremy Corbyn is facing pressure to stand down as leader of the Labour party following Britain's failure to remain in the EU. Labour's Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey have tabled a motion of no confidence in a letter to Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) chairman John Cryer after Britain voted to leave the EU by 51.9% to 48.1%.

The letter from Hodge, seconded by Coffey, said: "We wish to submit a motion for urgent consideration by the Parliamentary Labour Party as follows – that this PLP has no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party."

The motion will mean MPs will discuss removing Corbyn as leader, before Cryer decides whether a secret ballot among Labour MPs should take place.

Corbyn was heavily criticised throughout the referendum campaign for not doing enough to back Britain to remain in the EU. According to ITV News, there are "dozens" of Labour MPs who would back Corbyn stepping down, accusing him of being "at best nonplussed, at worst pleased" that Britain opted to leave the EU.

Hodge told Sky News Corbyn "failed" the test of leadership that the EU referendum had provided. She added: "If there is a motion of no confidence... I think he should reflect on his position and do the decent thing in the same way David Cameron has done. He came out too slowly, he was very half-hearted about his attempts to campaign, and Labour voters simply didn't get the message."

One shadow minister told PoliticsHome: "Jeremy has shown this morning that he doesn't care about the Labour party and, more importantly, the country. The Shadow Cabinet are meeting this morning [24 June]. They need to make it clear his position is untenable. It's now a choice between the survival of the Labour party or Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

"There is a realisation that the Shadow Cabinet need to show some leadership on this. It's up to people at the top to show their mettle."

Dan Jarvis, John McDonnell, Hilary Benn, Lisa Nandy and Angela Eagle are already among the names tipped to replace Corbyn if the vote of no confidence is passed.

The vote has already sparked the resignation of David Cameron, who announced outside 10 Downing Street he will be stepping down as prime minister in October. He said: "I held nothing back, I was absolutely clear about my belief that Britain is stronger, safer and better off inside the European Union and I made clear the referendum was about this and this alone – not the future of any single politician including myself.

"But the British people have made a very clear decision to take a different path and as such I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction."

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader
Jeremy Corbyn speaking at a Labour In For Britain rally at London's Institute of Engineering and Technology Getty
Jeremy Corbyn