Tom Watson: I'm not a threat to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

There have been suggestions the party’s ruling National Executive Committee is moving to limit Mr Watson’s influence in the event of him becoming acting leader, amid fears he could try to wrestle control away from allies of Jeremy Corbyn.

The West Bromwich MP says Mr Corbyn is going nowhere but warned that the NEC needed to listen to its MPs.

Mr Watson insisted he had no desire be Labour leader so should not be seen as a threat.

He also called for Labour to leave the upcoming party conference ‘united’ following a tumultuous summer for the party.

Under current party rules, Mr Watson would take over as acting leader in the event of Mr Corbyn stepping down or being forced out before a new leader was chosen.

It is claimed those close to Mr Corbyn are wary of what Mr Watson would do in that position, such as pushing to put Labour moderates back in control of the party.

Mr Watson spoke out against the leadership recently over the anti-Semitism row, which troubled Labour all summer after a long period of keeping his counsel.

The deputy leader told the Express & Star: “It amused me to see the suggestion of a rule change.

“We have had a year-long democratic review looking at how rules could change and last month it was suggested there could be a rule change affecting the deputy leader.

“I laughed at it because I don’t think Jeremy Corbyn is going anywhere any time soon.

“We need stability at the top of the party as we have had this year.”

But he added: “They (the NEC) need to listen to the leadership of their own party and their MPs.

Speculation

“There is a lot of speculation but it doesn’t really portray the national position.

“I have consistently said I don’t want to be leader of the Labour Party.”

Mr Watson also issued a rallying cry to his party ahead of the annual conference in Liverpool, where it has been suggested the deputy has been sidelined from the main event.

Labour has threatened to descend into civil war this summer over the anti-Semitism row. However, it is not the only party going into party conference season beleaguered, with the Tories split over Brexit and the future of Theresa May.

Mr Watson said: “The one game in town is Brexit and I am hoping for a good debate on where we are on Brexit.

“I hope we come out of conference united.”

Despite speculation about his own role, Mr Watson said he would like to see the creation of a second deputy leader role specifically for a woman.

“One thing I have really argued for is real change guaranteeing a second deputy leader who is a woman,” he said. “It is really important to get more women involved at all levels.”

The long-serving MP for West Bromwich East attracted criticism from Corbyn allies recently when he spoke damningly of the handling of the anti-Semitism crisis, which led to veteran Labour MP Frank Field resigning the whip.

He said the party would ‘disappear into a vortex of eternal shame and embarrassment’ if it did not resolve the row over adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, which it eventually did after months of dithering.

There was further unrest within Labour’s ranks following the re-election of Peter Willsman to the NEC, despite the fact he claimed Jewish ‘Trump fanatics’ were behind anti-Semitism allegations in the party.