JEREMY CORBYN has not previously had much to look forward to at meetings of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), writes Conrad Landin.

Over the past two years, his fiercest critics have used the weekly private gatherings to savage the leader — while all the time texting their mates in the press gallery.

It was in this bear pit during last year’s leadership challenge that they sought, in the words of one Labour MP, to “break [Corbyn] as a man.”

Tonight, however, the party leader’s grin is likely to spread from ear to ear.

Many MPs have spent the past two years complaining that his leadership would cost them their seats.

Instead, they now have Corbyn’s national campaign to thank for their increased majorities.

Yes, I’m looking at you Wes Streeting (Ilford North, majority 9,639, up from 589), Neil Coyle (Bermondsey, majority 12,972, up from 4,489) and Jess Phillips (Birmingham Yardley, majority 16,574, up from 6,595).

Chuka Umunna and Lucy Powell are both desperate to return to the shadow cabinet, now they know there’s no hope of unseating Corbyn and he could become prime minister.

If you hear of a mea culpa today or tomorrow that has just happened to find its way into a national newspaper, that’s probably what has prompted it — rather than any heartfelt conversion to public ownership and raising taxes on the rich.

There will be others yet who may struggle with even a limited engagement in the grovelling project. One wonders if the hard right of the “hostile” group — MPs such as John Woodcock and Ian Austin — will even turn up.

One senior Corbynista MP predicted that there would no doubt be a few “moaners” at the meeting, but it would be “all right” on the whole.

“There will be dozens of new MPs there, and dozens whose majorities will have doubled thanks to our beloved leader,” the MP said.

It’s certainly true that the ranks of the “core group” around Corbyn will be swelled by the election result.

As well as newbies such as Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton Kemptown), Emma Dent Coad (Kensington) and Laura Pidcock (North West Durham), Corbyn can count on the support of old timers returning to Parliament such as David Drew (Stroud) and Chris Williamson (Derby North).

None of the small handful of Labour MPs who lost their seats were supporters of the party leader.

The PLP is still largely sceptical of Corbyn’s leadership, and there will be manoeuvres aplenty in the coming months. But that’s no reason why he can’t enjoy a sense of vindication for the time being.