Corbyn-sceptic MPs seize Labour policy positions

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could be facing a new battle after "moderate" MPs seized key policy making positions.

The list of MPs who will chair Labour policy committees reads like a who's who of Mr Corbyn's internal critics.

They include pro-Trident MP John Woodcock who reportedly turned the air blue at a Blairite event as he summed up his views on Mr Corbyn's leadership.

The annual Parliamentary party departmental committee elections normally pass without controversy.

But this year there appears to have been a concerted effort by Corbyn-sceptic MPs to gain control of one of the party's policy making mechanisms, according to grassroots website Labour List.

Particularly as only four of the 17 posts were contested - although that may be because most of Corbyn's Labour allies already have roles as shadow ministers.

'Self-indulgent comfort-zone'

Former shadow chancellor Chris Leslie, who has said Mr Corbyn's economic policy would result in "higher inflation and higher cost of living" which would hit "the very people we should be standing up for", will chair the Parliamentary Party's Treasury committee.

Ian Austin, who tweeted "I'm getting a little tired of the self-indulgent comfort-zone fantasy that Corbyn could ever persuade mainstream voters to make him PM," will chair the party's education committee.

Shabana Mahmood, who quit the shadow cabinet, because she "strongly disagreed" with Mr Corbyn's economic policies, will chair the justice committee.

Other Corbyn critics to be appointed to committee chairs include Caroline Flint, Tristram Hunt, Ivan Lewis, Mike Gapes and Emma Reynolds.

They will have the power to stand in for shadow ministers at the despatch box, although this is rarely used, and influence policy decisions behind the scenes.

Analysis by BBC Political Correspondent Iain Watson

Who chairs Labour backbench committees doesn't usually make the headlines - but then there has rarely been such a gulf between a leader and many of his own MPs.

The lack of support for Jeremy Corbyn at Westminster was underlined by the fact that all but two of the successful candidates backed either Liz Kendall or Yvette Cooper for leader - and none backed him.

Mr Corbyn had said he wanted these positions to become more influential - and that is exactly the intention of the new chairmen and women, too.

Nine of them will serve on Labour's National Policy Forum.

John Woodcock - who is now the Parliamentary Labour Party's defence chairman - said he will remind his leadership that MPs were elected on a policy of retaining the nuclear deterrent.

And the new Treasury chairman Chris Leslie has denounced both his leader - and the shadow chancellor's - economic policies.

Mr Corbyn is at odds with his many of his centre-left MPs in key policy areas, including the renewal of Trident, the welfare cap and military action in Syria.

But he has vowed to open up the party's policy making process to its members, the vast majority of whom voted for him to be leader.

This has sparked fears among "moderate" MPs that their views will be sidelined.

"Many MPs feel the agenda of many of Corbyn's backers is less about Jeremy, more about a left realignment of the party," writes an anonymous columnist on Blairite website Progress.

"This would be achieved with manifestos decided by conferences and executive meetings, with MPs restrained by fear of reselection. Once such changes are achieved, any leader will have to follow."