A left-wing group within the Scottish Labour Party said yesterday it had failed to muster a challenge for a leadership contest against Wendy Alexander.

A left-wing group within the Scottish Labour Party said yesterday it had failed to muster a challenge for a leadership contest against Wendy Alexander.

The Campaign for Socialism group admitted after a meeting in Glasgow that it had the support of only four MSPs to back the principle of putting up a candidate, two short of the number needed.

That means that even one of the group's own MSPs is not backing the idea of a challenge, and that is understood to be Patricia Ferguson who did not attend the group's meeting in Glasgow yesterday.

Her partner, the Anniesland MSP Bill Butler, did attend, as did Elaine Smith, the MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston. The two other MSPs who are in the CfS - Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) and Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) - sent their apologies for being unable to attend.

A statement from CfS all but conceded defeat, saying: "It is important that the party has a debate around the issues affecting Scotland - poverty, privatisation, a sustainable economy and the devolution of power.

"We believe a leadership election is an opportunity to kick off that debate. MSPs, however, are the gatekeepers to this process and they can either allow or prevent that debate taking place.

"There are currently four MSPs willing to support that process and support a challenge based on traditional Labour values and those articulated by the trade union movement."

The statement added: "We still hope this can happen but clearly at the moment we are two nominations short of getting on the ballot paper and therefore do not as yet have a candidate. We will, however, continue to campaign, firstly until Tuesday.

"But regardless of the outcome of the leadership election we will continue with our campaign to democratise the party and ensure all party members have the right to elect the leader and to influence policy in the future."

If, as seems inevitable, the support of two MSPs from outside the CfS does not come forward by the time the nominations close at noon tomorrow, Ms Alexander will be returned unopposed.

A spokesman for her campaign said: "Nominations don't actually close until Tuesday so we won't know until then if there is to be another candidate. We have said all along that we don't fear a contest but if there is no other nominee Wendy will still want to spend time listening to the views of Labour members the length and breadth of Scotland."

Ms Alexander is planning to launch a web-based think tank to oversee a review of the party's policies in Scotland. This "virtual think tank" would be asked to come up with policies which would reconnect Scottish Labour with voters.

She wants a particular emphasis on child-friendly planning issues, how to support early parenthood, and a reform of child protection strategies.

There was slightly more disturbing news for her camp in the approval ratings in a YouGov poll for would-be first ministers. The incumbent, Alex Salmond, was well clear of the field on 38% with his predecessor Jack McConnell on 10%. Ms Alexander was level with the Scots Tory leader Annabel Goldie on 7%, with only the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen doing worse on 5%.

The Alexander team dismissed the polling figure as "meaningless", particularly as it split Labour preferences by naming two potential candidates from that party.

But the Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "This indicates that Labour are going out of the frying pan into the fire and that Wendy Alexander is even less popular than Jack McConnell. This shows the weakness of Labour's position in their choice of leader as the SNP continues to dominate the political landscape."

Meanwhile, at the weekend Jack McConnell blamed UK and international events, coupled with tensions within Labour between London and Scotland, for May's election defeat.

He told Scotland on Sunday: "It was total frustration that politics was being dominated by what was happening at Westminster - and that was everything, from the hand over of prime ministerial power to the war, to all sorts of things.

"That was very frustrating because, ultimately, I cared about this place. I cared about what was happening here."

Mr McConnell admitted: "I think there is tension between the Scottish leadership and the UK leadership with potential at least for division over things like campaign strategy."

He added: "There was definitely a mood for change that the SNP galvanised very cleverly."