Ed Miliband has been told to bring back former Labour spin doctor Peter Mandelson to stem increasing criticism of his leadership from his own MPs.

Former Labour whip Graham Stringer admitted even he was not clear where Labour stood on issues including welfare and housing as he warned the party was struggling to get its message across to voters.

Mr Stringer is the fourth MP in recent days to break rank and criticise the party leadership, ramping up the pressure on Mr Miliband who returns from a two-week holiday in France today.

During that time Labour has been accused of failing to make the political weather, despite the summer traditionally being seen as a time for opposition parties to attack the government.

In his absence, allies of Mr Miliband have defended the Labour leader and questioned the work ethic of his frontbench, insisting the party is not a "one-man band".

But Mr Stringer, who accused the party of "deafening silence" in recent weeks, said Labour's problem was not one of laziness.

Instead it was suffering a "lack of coherence and cogence of our policies", he said.

"It's not quite clear what our policies on welfare or what our policies on housing are," he added.

He called for the appointment of a top election strategist to replace Tom Watson, who resigned following allegations that the Unite union has attempted to fix the Labour selection contest in Falkirk.

Labour has been rankled by the revelation that Jim Messina, who advised on President Obama's successful White House bids, is to help the Conservatives in the run up to the 2015 General Election.

Mr Stringer said: "I think the Labour Party needs to get the best person into that job that they can. There's no doubt that when Peter Mandelson held that kind of position in the past the Labour party was more cogent and coherent in getting its message across.

"Whether a) he's willing, or b) he's the right person, I don't know. But somebody of his ability needs to be in that position and that person has to have stature to be able to keep the discipline between different senior spokespeople so that the message is consistent."

Mr Stringer also warned the unity that had been portrayed within the Parliamentary Labour Party since the election was "a bit of a mirage" because there were a "lot of different views and there is serious concern across the parliamentary party about what our policies should be".

At the weekend shadow cabinet minister Andy Burnham became the most senior party figure to voice concerns. He warned Labour had until next spring to spell out its ideas to the electorate.

Last night another high-profile Labour backbencher John Mann called for "iron discipline" from within the party.