Hard-left Labour supporters are plotting to oust the party’s deputy leader over what they see as disloyalty to Jeremy Corbyn.
The move comes as internal pressure is also mounting on the leadership of the party in Scotland to adopt a more radical socialist approach. The long-established Campaign for Socialism has claimed that the general election campaign run by Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish leader, hampered the surge of support for Mr Corbyn north of the border and cost the party seats.
At a UK level, pro-Corbyn activists are pushing to replace Tom Watson, a centrist, with Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, who is close to the party leader.
Mr Watson is viewed by the Labour leader’s allies as an alternative power base and therefore a threat to Mr Corbyn’s control of the party.
Grassroots Corbyn supporters have accused the deputy leader of trying to place anti-Corbyn members on the party’s governing body. Mr Watson has also sparked ire among the left in the past by branding Momentum, the network of Corbyn supporters, a “rabble” and accusing “Trotsky entryists” of influencing its younger members.
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Another option being discussed among the party’s local activists is to create a second deputy leadership position to clip Mr Watson’s wings.
Ms Thornberry’s name has also been associated with the putative role, along with other leading female MPs in the party’s left flank. Achieving better gender representation at the top of the party would be one justification used to create the new position, it is understood.
The signatures of 20 per cent of the parliamentary Labour party — 52 Labour MPs — will be required to spark a contest.
“The party leadership are very keen on Emily. They think she would stick with them on the things that are most important and she’s also part of their close Islington set. But challenging Tom would plunge the party into civil war. I think it’s unlikely,” said a Labour source.
Ms Thornberry refused to comment yesterday and an ally said that she was not planning any challenge against Mr Watson, adding: “It would not make any sense. We’re trying to take on the Tories.”
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One Labour frontbencher said that they would wait for Ms Thornberry to approach them about any challenge before commenting on it, but did not rule out lending her support in such an eventuality.
Although the idea of creating another deputy leader is gaining traction among some Labour members, it would require a vote at the party’s annual conference to pass the proposal, which a senior Labour insider said would be unlikely to happen this year.
At the same time, the Scottish Labour Campaign for Socialism has also claimed that the party north of the border had “almost silenced” Mr Corbyn’s socialist message, focusing instead on attacking the Scottish Nationalists’ call for a second independence referendum
in the general election campaign. While Labour increased the number of its MPs in Scottish seats from one to seven, the report noted that 21 of the 24 seats where Labour’s vote did not go up in the election were in Scotland.
In a thinly veiled criticism of Ms Dugdale, the group said that the recent campaign had “failed to deliver” and accused strategists of being stuck in a “Better Together mindset” that focused attention on the SNP rather than the Conservative record in government.
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Although there is believed to be little appetite for a challenge to Ms Dugdale’s leadership at this stage, the campaign called for a change in emphasis and for the Scottish party to adopt a message that closer reflects Mr Corbyn’s approach. It comes as the Labour leader prepares to embark on a tour of marginal Scottish seats, with the party confident they would defeat the SNP in a string of central Scotland constituencies at the next general election, which they hope will take place soon with Theresa May’s position far from secure.
A Campaign for Socialism spokesman said: “While elsewhere we saw people being enthused by ‘for the many, not the few’, we concentrated on the dispiriting visionless ‘send Nicola a message’ — and paid a price for that, coming third in votes and seats for the first time in a century.
“In Scotland we looked more like Jim Murphy’s Labour Party than Jeremy Corbyn’s — and that isn’t a good look.”
A Scottish Labour spokesman dismissed the criticism, saying: “The overwhelming majority of Scottish Labour members are united behind our vision for a Scotland that is part of a United Kingdom which works for the many, not the few. Scottish Labour ran a positive pro-UK, anti-austerity campaign that highlighted how we would improve the lives of people across Scotland. That dual message directly led to six gains for the Labour Party.”