Diane Abbott earns herself a new nickname

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Labour’s new leader, few of his colleagues have been more supportive than Diane Abbott. As well as defending John McDonnell on the Today show this week over his fiscal charter U-turn, the shadow secretary for international development — who reportedly once enjoyed a romance with Corbyn — took it upon herself to defend Corbyn’s honour at a PLP meeting last month when Jess Phillips criticised him over the lack of women in his shadow cabinet.

With Phillips responding by telling Abbott to f— off, it’s safe to say that Abbott’s new role as Corbyn’s champion has not gone down well with some Labour MPs. In fact, one such Labour MP tells the Financial Times that they have taken to referring to her as ‘Madame Mao’ behind her back:

‘One Labour MP said: “If you’ve got to put Diane Abbott on the Today programme to calm things down, you’re in trouble.