THE expected reshuffle of Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet looks set to go ahead without Labour MPs being granted a vote on the make-up of the leader's top team.

The party's ruling National Executive Committee has agreed to put off a decision on shadow cabinet elections until an "away-day" on November 22, with a consultation process to follow before reforms are approved at a special conference.

MPs voted overwhelmingly earlier this month to restore elections, in order to give the parliamentary party more control over the choice of shadow ministers.

And the decision to kick the issue into the long grass is likely to make it more difficult for Mr Corbyn to persuade critics who quit his frontbench team in June to return.

A bitter rift between Labour colleagues followed the resignation of several opposition frontbenchers and the leader’s call for unity was met with a relatively positive response from the region’s Labour MPs.

However, the shadow of deselection still hangs over dissenting MPs despite their leader insisting that the "vast majority" will have no problems as local parties choose candidates for new and altered constituencies created by the redrawing of boundaries.

On Saturday morning the result of the election was announced when Mr Corbyn received 313,209 votes, while Mr Smith received 193,229.

Mr Corbyn said he was honoured to receive the second mandate in a year to lead the party. He added: "In our party we have much more in common than that which divides us."

The Islington North MP urged Labour to "wipe the slate clean" after an often bitter campaign.

And Redcar MP Anna Turley, who was one of the MPs accused of being abusive to the party’s leader, took to social media to air her views.

She wrote: “Congratulations to Jeremy Corbyn on winning the Labour leadership. Now we must focus on exposing the weakness of this government. I will continue to give my all every single day to represent my constituents through my Labour values.”

And Sedgefield’s Labour MP, Phil Wilson, said: “The membership has decided who they want to be leader. We now have to test their decision to see if it accords with the wishes of the electorate in 2020.

“I will be campaigning for victory and will continue to work hard for my constituents because ultimately it is their views that count.

“I will continue to listen to them because their views are important. They make the final decision, something I know Jeremy will bear in mind when developing Labour's manifesto.”

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman said it was up to the party’s leader to end the discord and bring the party back together. She said: “Today is Jeremy’s day and he has done very well to secure that result.”

When asked about his ambition to bring the party back together, she said: “Whether or not that is feasible is down to him and he needs to demonstrate, through his leadership, that he can use that sufficiently, not just on party members but on members of the public. I believe it will be very difficult for him but it will be down to him.”

And Durham City MP Roberta Blackman Woods said it was time for the party to ‘knuckle down’ and fight as a united party.

She said: “I do think that’s what we have to do. Jeremy won decisively and what we have to is work with him to ensure there’s a voice for everybody in the party and we remain, a ‘broad church’.

“What I say is that forty per-cent of the membership didn’t vote for Jeremy.”

Easington MP Grahame Morris, the Shadow Communities and Local Government Minister, repeated the calls for unity.

“We must unite, work together and organise at every level in our communities, our workplaces and in parliament. If we fail to do so, hard fought gains will be squandered, our causes and issues will not be advanced and it will be our communities that have to live with the hardships caused by a Tory Government.”