I can ' t think of any gesture by Corbyn for party unity that hasn ' t been immediately undermined by his fan club or his chancellor . I agree that it ' s trying times but this is when the Labour Party should step forward and lead . Maybe they feel that they can be more effective from the back benches like Chuka Umunna and his Brexit work . Joining the shadow cabinet and the collective responsibility is a shackle around their feet while you have Corbyn unable to give a straight message on Brexit , McDonnell either joking or going on about austerity which died with Osborne ' s career and shallow identity politics pedlars like Abbott and Thornberry muddying the waters . I think those have far more of an effect on polling than some obscure backbencher on twitter .