AN alleged attempt by Jeremy Corbyn to strengthen his influence over Scottish Labour and stop a prominent critic securing a key Westminster role has failed, senior party sources have claimed.

It has been suggested that a supposed bid from the Labour leader’s office to stop Edinburgh MP Ian Murray becoming Chairman of the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party was thwarted due to the intervention of a group of moderate Scottish Labour peers.

But the claims of a failed “Corbyn coup” were firmly rejected by the leader’s office as untrue while another Scottish Labour MP implicated in the alleged move branded them “a load of rubbish”.

During the last parliament, Lord Foulkes, the former Scotland Office minister, became SPLP chairman as Mr Murray was at the time Labour’s only MP north of the border and for more than a year on the frontbench as Shadow Scottish Secretary.

However, like other colleagues Mr Murray, 40, fell out with Mr Corbyn and resigned his position in June 2016 when 80 per cent of Labour MPs expressed no confidence in their leader.

But the Islington MP went on to win a second leadership contest and led Labour to a better-than-expected performance at the snap June General Election.

In March after Mr Corbyn suggested a second Scottish independence poll was “absolutely fine,” Mr Murray tweeted: “Often asked why I resigned from Shadow Cabinet. Ladies & Gentlemen I give u Jeremy Corbyn. He's destroying the party that so many need.”

A month later, however, the Edinburgh MP described his feud with the party leader as “yesterday’s argument,” and insisted: “If asked, I’ll serve. We need a Labour government.”

As the new parliament began, Mr Murray - still out of favour with Mr Corbyn, who chose Lesley Laird, one of six new Scottish MPs, to become Shadow Scottish Secretary - sought to become Chairman of the SPLP given his seniority among his colleagues; he has been MP for Edinburgh South since 2010.

However, party sources suggested a bid was made to stop this from happening with most of the new intake backing Danielle Rowley, the MP for Midlothian, to lead the SPLP.

“The feeling is that this was all directed from the leader’s office. It was seen as a further attempt by Jeremy to strengthen his grip on the party,” observed one insider.

However, when Labour peers got wind of this they turned up en masse at an SPLP meeting to ensure Mr Murray succeeded Lord Foulkes as Chairman.

“About 20 turned up to make certain Ian got the role. The other MPs realised the game was up and, in the end, there was no vote. Ian was nodded through and Danielle became Vice Chair. The Corbyn coup had failed,” explained one source.

The pro-Murray peers included Baroness Liddell, Lord O’Neill and Lord McConnell.

One colleague said it had been a triumph for “the sensibles,” and a setback to those around the leader, trying to strengthen the radical Left’s control of the party.

It was further suggested had Ms Rowley, 27, daughter of Alex Rowley, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour, become SPLP Chairwoman, she would have secured an automatic seat on the party’s Scottish Executive and would have been in a position to help any attempt to replace Kezia Dugdale as Scottish Labour leader with her father.

“This was the underlying purpose of her move for the SPLP chair; to get a seat on the Scottish Executive,” claimed one insider.

But Ms Rowley said she had no real comment to make on the claims by some of her Labour colleagues other than to say they were “a load of rubbish”.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Mr Corbyn’s office said: “Neither Jeremy nor his office were involved in the SPLP Chairman’s election, which is a matter for the SPLP. Accounts to the contrary are false.”

Party sources claimed the bid to strengthen the leader’s position in Scotland was part of a wider move by those around Mr Corbyn to entrench the Left’s control of the party.

This week, the Scottish Labour Campaign for Socialism made veiled criticism of Ms Dugdale’s leadership, saying the party had “paid a price” during the election for her focus on attacking the SNP rather than supporting Mr Corbyn’s “for the many, not the few” message.

“In Scotland, we looked more like Jim Murphy’s Labour Party than Jeremy Corbyn’s and that isn’t a good look,” said a spokesman for the group.

Next month, the party leader will take his campaign tour of marginal constituencies to Scotland as deselection fears among moderate MPs persist.

During the election campaign Corbyn loyalist, Ian Lavery, the party Chairman, declared: “Whatever happens in the election isn't the end of the Corbyn Project, it's only the beginning.”