Leadership in the United Kingdom’s two major governing parties was in turmoil on Sunday as fallout from last week’s Brexit vote continued to claim more political victims.
Labour Party chief Jeremy Corbyn hung on to leadership by his fingernails as his closest allies quit or — as in the case of popular shadow foreign minister Hilary Benn — were fired.
Corbyn, who critics said didn’t work hard enough for the Remain camp, is desperately trying to hold on against a tidal wave of his own Labour Party foes.
He could face a no-confidence vote by his conference later this week. Corbyn, seeing enemies all around him, sacked Benn for questioning his leadership.
Benn’s termination tops a remarkable list of Labour Party bigs who have left the shadow cabinet: Heidi Alexander (health), Kerry McCarthy (environment), Seema Malhotra (treasury), Lilian Greenwood (transportation), Gloria de Piero (young people and voter registration), Lord Falconer (justice), Lucy Powell (education), Vernon Coaker (Northern Ireland), Karl Turner (attorney general) and Ian Murray (Scotland).
“I told Jeremy Corbyn last night that I no longer had confidence in his leadership and he dismissed me from the shadow cabinet,” Benn said on Sunday. 
Labour MPs Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey sent a letter to their colleagues and said the party cannot survive with Corbyn at the helm.
“If a general election is called later this year . . . we believe that under Jeremy’s leadership we could be looking at political oblivion,” they wrote.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell pleaded for his fellow Labour stalwarts to stick with Corbyn, warning rebels that Corbyn still has the backing of the grass-roots activists.
“When people go back to their constituencies, the message will be straightforward: Be loyal to the principles of the Labour Party,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s “Pienaar’s Politics.”
In the Conservative Party, Prime Minister David Cameron — who broke with much of his party’s rank-and-file to campaign for Remain — quickly fell on the sword and announced Friday he’d soon resign his top post.
The Times of London, citing sources, reported that Cameron will remain a member of Parliament after he leaves Downing Street, aiming to avoid the kind of criticism heaped on Tony Blair, who left the House Commons on the day he resigned as prime minister in 2007.