Ipswich councillor John Cook said they owed it to people who needed a Labour government most to get it together and create an electable party.

He was one of a raft of members from the region who has been in Liverpool this week.

Mr Cook said they needed to be seen to be a credible opposition party if they were going win over voters in the marginal seat of Ipswich.

“You get a core of people who are extremely political and most people are not very political and you have got to understand the public mood. People do expect leadership from political parties, but they are not going to accept leadership which is 180 degrees from where they want to go.

“The challenge for Jeremy Corbyn is whether he, as someone from the left, can develop an agenda which is going to appeal not just to the left but a wider group of people within Britain.”

He said the national leadership was important for local elections, but it was more important for the general election. Labour will be defending 10 out of 13 county council seats in Ipswich next year, he said while they could still win more, it would be seen as a high water tide to defend them.