Why Labour insiders blame Elder and Rowley

'In the Soviet Union, whatever the Constitution said, in practice the constituent republics were run from Moscow and by local henchmen loyal to it. This is clearly Mr Blair's model of how Wales and Scotland are to be run after May 1999. Hence Alun Michael and the decision to people the Scottish parliament only with leadership loyalists. The problem for Mr Blair is that the best conditions for the successful application of democratic centralism are a cowed, defeated nation and a supine press. This is also the challenge to the Scottish people and their media. Tim Williams in the Scotsman, 19 th November 1998.

Listening to the recriminations echoing through the Labour Party as Donald Dewar struggles to rally his demoralised troops

By Catherine Macleod in the Herald

But what the outcome of the North-East European by-election tells us about the state of Labour's Scottish organisation is a far more painful subject for party strategists trying to keep their nerve ahead of next May's Holyrood election.

In private, the finger-pointing and recriminations are growing increasingly bitter, as the disparate collection of politicians, officials and special advisers involved in the strategy-making struggle to produce a united front against the SNP.

On the eve of Donald Dewar's crucial St Andrew's Day speech, the blame was being initially laid at the feet of Scottish general secretary Alex Rowley, who was ordered to produce a report on the disaster for Gordon Brown, who has overall control of the Scottish campaign. His account was on the Chancellor's desk within 24 hours.

But dig deeper and it emerges that others are being named as those who must bear the greater responsibility for Labour's failure to win the voters. In some quarters, Mr Rowley is merely being made the scapegoat for what is going wrong.

Colleagues, some of whom believe he is being blamed unfairly, think Mr Rowley's job would be "on the line" if his departure would not be "political dynamite". Last night, one former council colleague defended Mr Rowley, a close ally of the Chancellor: "It is quite disgraceful what is happening to Alex Rowley. He is a decent bloke who was a good local councillor, who ran Fife well and was looking forward to standing for the Scottish Parliament. They could now have destroyed his political career."

Another said: "It is ridiculous to blame Rowley. In the 80s nobody blamed Larry Whitty (then the general secretary of the Labour Party) for Labour's disastrous showings at the polls."

Attention instead is being focused on Murray Elder, Donald Dewar's special adviser, was alleged to be in charge of the by-election campaign.

But an experienced political hand in the North-east argued last night that it was impossible to say who was in charge.

He said: "There was no structure, no political input, no briefings. Let's hope the post-mortem is not held in closed rooms. We need a proper open and honest debate."

Fingers were also being pointed at Mike Elrick, the late John Smith's loyal press officer, who was parachuted into the campaign as a media adviser but who failed to protect candidate Kathleen Walker Shaw from her own mouth. His attention was distracted by his efforts to win the Labour nomination for the Aberdeen South Holyrood seat.

A Labour supporter said: "It just is not possible to run a campaign if your eye is not on the ball."

Mr Elder, whose negotiations with the GMB resulted in Mrs Walker Shaw emerging as a candidate, is increasingly a focus for the discontent within the Scottish party.

Ever since he became one of Mr Dewar's three special advisers Scottish Labour MPs have accused him of giving the Scottish Secretary misguided advice.

Party observers hoped Mr Dewar would widen his circle once former Treasury Minister Helen Liddell joined his team as his "Nat-bashing" deputy. But insiders say Mrs Liddell is very much on the periphery of an inner circle which includes special adviser Wendy Alexander and her brother, MP Douglas Alexander, who is there at the Chancellor's behest.

A more mysterious member of the inner circle is advertising specialist Philip Chalmers, described by a Labour Party official as "the Rasputin at the Court".

Mr Chalmers's friends describe him as "a talented ad guy, probably a good thing who would like to be like Peter Mandelson".

He is certainly credited with giving the Scottish campaign a "Millbank edge" on polling, advertising, and leaflets.

But a senior Scottish MP said: "The problem is so much is decided by Donald and his advisers. The difficulty is the advisers."

Echoing the sentiments in North-east Labour circles, he added: "The chickens are coming home to roost. If Donald and his cronies don't start to listen to people outside their own circle, things won't get better."

Others in the higher echelons of the Scottish Labour Party credit Mr Alexander with " a couple of effective hits" on the Scottish nationalists.

One said: "Sometimes we wonder if there really is the heart to bash the Nats on the paucity of their policies - not, I may add, by calling them names - but I can hardly believe the urge is not in Gordon's bones."

Last night one of Mr Dewar's special advisers dismissed the critics.

He said: "It is the nature of the way parties are run. If the chain of command was any wider we wouldn't know who was in charge." - Nov 30.