British Prime Minister David Cameron has told the leader of the main opposition Labour party Jeremy Corbyn, who is facing a revolt from MPs, to step down in the national interest.
"It might be in my party's interests for him to sit there, it's not in the national interests and I would say, for heaven's sake man, go," Mr Cameron said to Mr Corbyn in British Parliament.
Labour MPs voted against Mr Corbyn in a no-confidence motion by 172 to 40, after dozens of members of his frontbench team stepped down in recent days.
But Corbyn has refused to go.
Mr Corbyn has come under increasing pressure after being accused of not campaigning enough in Britain's EU referendum, which delivered a shock "Leave" result last week.
He was elected Labour leader last year on a wave of support from grassroots members, but has struggled to build broad support among MPs.
Mr Cameron has said he will step down in the wake of the referendum and will leave office when his successor is chosen in early September.
Former London mayor Boris Johnson and interior minister Theresa May are considered to be the front-runners in the key leadership race, but they come from far ends of the Brexit divide.
Mr Johnson was a leading campaigner for the Leave side, while Ms May backed Remain but did not play a prominent role in the failed campaign.
Cameron calls for UK to stick together
Mr Cameron responded to concerns that its constituent nations, including Scotland, could seek independence after Britons voted to leave the EU.
"Keeping the United Kingdom together is an absolute paramount national interest for our country," he said.
But the outgoing Prime Minister warned of difficult times ahead.
"There's no doubt in my mind these are going to be difficult economic times," Cameron told Parliament.
"If we do see economic difficulties, one of the ways we have to react to that is to make sure that our public finances and economy remain strong."
Reuters/AFP