Eight members of Britain's opposition Labour party said on Sunday they had withdrawn support for the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, plunging the party into crisis in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Corbyn sacked Hilary Benn as Labour's foreign policy chief early on Sunday after he said had lost confidence in the leadership.

Gloria de Piero, Heidi Alexander, Lucy Powell, Ian Murray and Kerry McCarthy all announced they were withdrawing support and stepping down from Corbyn's 'shadow cabinet'.

Sky News television reported that Lilian Greenwood had resigned while the BBC said that Seema Malhotra, a member of Corbyn's shadow finance team, too had resigned.

Several said in statements that they doubted Corbyn's ability to lead the party to victory in the country's next parliamentary election.-Reuters