JIM Murphy is today clinging on to his job as Scottish Labour leader by his fingertips after the boss of Britain's most powerful trade union blamed him for the party's UK-wide defeat in the General Election and a third of his MSPs launched a coup in a dramatic bid to topple him.

 

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, laid the blame squarely at the feet of Mr Murphy for Ed Miliband's failure to become Prime Minister and called on the former MP to step down immediately following last week's catastrophic defeat, which saw Labour lose 40 of its 41 seats north of the border.

Meanwhile, on a day of high drama at Holyrood, a large block of Mr Murphy's MSPs attempted to oust their leader, while his chief of staff John McTernan prompted outrage among party staffers when he praised Scottish Labour's election campaign and suggested everything would be fine at next year's Holyrood vote.

The mutiny is understood to have begun at around 10am yesterday morning, when Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, called for a meeting of the parliamentary group to discuss the leadership.

The request was blocked by John Pentland, the Labour group chairman and an ally of Mr Murphy, leading to Ms Grant calling an informal meeting which was attended by more than a dozen MSPs who want a change at the top. Significantly, the group is not solely made up of those on the left of the party, who had already been hostile to Mr Murphy taking charge.

The summit went ahead despite Mr Murphy turning up at Holyrood and stalking the Labour corridor with whips Neil Bibby and James Kelly in an attempt to bolster his support. It is understood that at least two senior MSPs told Mr Murphy to his face that he should quit.

Meanwhile, two members of the shadow cabinet are prepared to resign and publicly call for Mr Murphy's head should his deputy Kezia Dugdale indicate her willingness to become leader. It is understood that the position of Ms Dugdale, who has publicly backed the leader, is currently unclear.

It is believed that the MSPs who attended the meeting are considering sending a letter to the party's Scottish Executive Committee, which will vote on a no confidence motion at the weekend, stating that Mr Murphy no longer has their support.

His position was dealt a further blow when Mr McCluskey said last night: "I lay the blame for that very squarely at the feet of Scottish Labour. Not only have they lost Scotland but I think they've been responsible for making certain that the Tories were back in power in Westminster.

"In Scotland my view is very, very strongly that we have to say to the Scottish people we're sorry for letting you down, for making you feel abandoned, and Scottish Labour is under new management. I think Jim and his colleagues should just leave the scene."

Mr McTernan, who Mr Murphy appointed as his right hand man after he won the Scottish Labour leadership last year, has become hugely unpopular with Labour MSPs. One source described him as "beyond toxic" and there is a feeling that ditching his chief of staff may buy the former MP some time.

However, there is an increasing suspicion that Mr Murphy has accepted that he will not lead Scottish Labour in to next year's Holyrood elections, and is instead focusing on managing his own exit.

A source familiar with the plot to remove Murphy said: "He's gone into a bunker with McTernan. The number that have a direct interest in him staying on is small and the way things are going we will be reduced to one MSP per region next year.

"Will he win the vote on Saturday? He might, but the question will be how many folk on his own executive voted against him. Grassroots members haven't met yet since the election, and a series of no confidence votes are planned in constituencies.

"Jim is only thinking about his own career and has become a toxic brand. If he's still in place in 2016, recovery becomes a theoretical concept. If Kez is in place, we might get something and that could be presented as a success.

"He can drag it out, but he's dead."