THE Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair, is facing a dangerous outbreak of party infighting after Labour backbenchers warned the leadership not to try to scrap this year's shadow cabinet election.
It emerged over the weekend that 110 of the party's 175 backbenchers had secretly pledged to oppose any attempt to drop the annual autumn poll of Labour MPs.
But two Labour frontbenchers yesterday called for the elections to be abandoned in the interests of party unity in the run up to a general election.
The intervention, by the defence spokesman, Mr John Reid, and the home affairs spokesman, Mr George Howarth, raised the prospect of a showdown at a crucial meeting of Labour MPs on July 17th.
Mr Blair has been trying to keep above the fray with his office insisting that it is purely a matter for the parliamentary Labour Party. But many MPs see the hand of the leadership behind moves to drop the poll.
There is a widespread belief that Mr Blair wants to protect his shadow health secretary, Ms Harriet Harman, who could be dumped over her decision to send her son to a selective grammar school.
A decision by MPs to carry on with the election would almost certainly be seen as a blow to Mr Blair's authority.
One of the backbenchers supporting the election, the left winger Mr Tony Banks, warned MPs close to the leadership not to try to scrap the vote. "It will be most surprising if they push this but if they do I think it will get turned over very heavily in the Parliamentary Labour Party" he said in a BBC interview.
However, Mr Howarth whose boss, the shadow home secretary, Mr Jack Straw, could also be vulnerable if the elections take place predicted they would be able to stop them.
"With a general election just around the corner, the last thing that the Parliamentary Labour party needs is a potentially divisive shadow Cabinet election", he said.
"Our sole aim should be the defeat of the Conservatives, not the defeat of shadow Cabinets members.
But MPs backing the election claimed support across the right left spectrum. The former deputy leader, Mr Roy Hattersley, is reportedly among them.
The MP for Thurrock, Mr Andrew Mackinlay warned. The concept that you abandon elections because they might be inconvenient is a dangerous one.