Jeremy Corbyn denies rumours of leadership challenge and insists he will not lose seats in local election

Experts suggest the party could lose up to 150 seats

The Labour leader has confirmed he would stand in a leadership election if challenged (Getty)

Jeremy Corbyn has defied his critics and claimed Labour will not lose any seats in Thursday’s local council elections, dismissing reports of an imminent leadership challenge as an obsession of the “the golden circle of the media establishment”.

The Labour leader has been plagued in recent days by reports that MPs are plotting a coup against him after the EU referendum in June.

Launching a new campaign poster, Mr Corbyn said he did not know who his challengers were and confirmed that he would stand again in a leadership election if he were challenged.

Reports have suggested rebel Labour MPs are seeking to persuade party grandee Margaret Hodge to stand as a stalking horse against Mr Corbyn. Independent local elections experts from Plymouth University, meanwhile, have suggested the party could lose up to 150 council seats. At this stage in the electoral cycle, opposition parties tend to gain seats.

The Labour leader accused the media of obsessing over the future of his leadership at the expense of issues that voters care about.

“[People] are talking about housing, they’re talking about poverty, they’re talking about NHS cuts, they are talking about zero-hours contracts, they are talking about low wages, they are talking about a crisis of expectation for young people,“ he said.

“It’s time, quite honestly, that many in the golden circle of the media establishment actually got out a bit and listened to what people are saying,” he said.

Mr Corbyn also said that allegations of a growing problem of anti-Semitism within the ranks of the Labour party were being “dealt with”. The party has launched an independent inquiry led by former Liberty director Shami Chrakabarti.

The Labour leader received a boost over the weekend as Unite union general secretary Len McCluskey warned that any Labour MPs “stupid enough to try” to challenge Mr Corbyn would be “accountable for their actions”. He also claimed the anti-Semitism row was being “got up” by the press and Labour MPs opposed to Mr Corbyn in order to undermine his leadership.