Tom Watson has accused a “hard-left faction” of jeopardising Labour’s electoral chances by forcing MPs to waste time and effort on local selection battles, after Margaret Hodge became the second MP to face reselection.

Hodge has vowed to campaign to remain Labour’s candidate for Barking, after local members voted for her to face an open selection in the “trigger ballot” process.

Watson, the party’s deputy leader, said on Sunday: “Our professional organisers, constituency activists and MPs are spending an extraordinary amount of time on internal selections when they could be preparing for an imminent general election.

Tories hold 12-point lead over Labour in latest poll Read more

“I know the Jon Lansman-led hard-left faction on Labour’s NEC are committed to full reselections but they risk Labour’s chances of election success against Boris Johnson with their dogmatic behaviour.”

Hodge, a veteran MP and prominent critic of Jeremy Corbyn, said: “I am obviously disappointed. My priority remains serving the people of Barking, as I have done for the last 25 years. At a vital time for the country, with a general election looming, we should be focusing our efforts on holding Boris Johnson and the Tories to account.

“I will work to secure the full backing of Barking Labour party, so I can continue to play my part as their MP in doing that.”

Labour sources insisted Hodge had not been targeted because of her role in criticising the party’s response to antisemitism – and that many of those in Barking who supported an open selection were not from the left of the party.

“There’s nothing to suggest this has anything to do with antisemitism. Many members wish to hold democratic selections so they can have a say in who represents them,” said a party source.

It has become easier for Labour members to force an open contest since the threshold was lowered at last year’s party conference. In Barking, five out of 11 local branches supported an open selection.

Momentum, the grassroots campaign group set up by Lansman to support Corbyn’s leadership, would like to see all MPs face an open contest before each general election, believing it helps to hold MPs accountable and would bring new talent to Westminster.

A Momentum spokesperson said: “If we’re going to beat Boris Johnson and get Labour elected we need to open the door to a new generation of MPs drawn from Labour’s half a million members. Inspiring candidates who know their communities and are committed to delivering a transformational policy agenda are a crucial part of Labour’s plan to win, and Momentum will continue to support members in getting them selected.”

Lansman insisted “the left” had had nothing to do with the trigger process in Barking, claiming it was driven by “members on the right”.

Jon Lansman (@jonlansman) The Left is most certainly not behind the triggering of Margaret Hodge in Barking nor was it the result of antisemitism. I’m told it happened because members on the Right had expected her to retire & want an MP who actually lives there, not one who has always lived in Islington

Hodge has served as MP for Barking in east London since 1994 and a number of Labour MPs rallied behind her at the weekend. Stephen Doughty called her a “brilliant constituency MP” and Tulip Siddiq said she was an “amazing feminist”.

Stephen Doughty MP / AS (@SDoughtyMP) Scourge of the racist BNP and the tax avoiders, and a brilliant constituency MP @margarethodge should simply not be facing deselection. She should be actively backed to stand again. The only people who we should be focused on defeating are #LiarJohnson and his cronies.

Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) A lot of people from the PLP supported me when I hit a rough patch in my career a few years ago. But 2 MPs went out on a limb to help me. One of those MPs is an amazing feminist called Margaret Hodge. @margarethodge

The Hull North MP, Diana Johnson, who is widely respected at Westminster for campaigning on the contaminated blood scandal, is also facing an open selection.

Hodge has led criticism of the party’s handling of antisemitism complaints, confronting Corbyn directly about it and making a strongly worded speech about her experiences of antisemitism in a Commons debate.

She beat the British National party in the 2010 general election and, in the same year, became the first woman to be elected chair of the public accounts committee.

Mike Katz, the national chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, said: “Margaret Hodge has been a steadfast campaigner against racism, fascism and intolerance throughout her political life.

“She saw off the BNP in Barking and has over the last few years been determined in her opposition to antisemitism within the Labour party. This is a shameful moment for a party which claims to embody the values of equality and diversity.”

The timetable for the trigger ballot process is set by the NEC, on which Corbyn’s allies have a clear majority – though Lansman failed in a last-minute bid to abolish Watson’s job just before last week’s conference, because of objections by the chair, Wendy Nichols.

Even MPs with little prospect of being deselected complain the process of rallying support among local members is time-consuming, with a general election potentially just months or weeks away.

Thangam Debbonaire, the Bristol West MP, tweeted: “The sheer mass of work, time and energy spent trying to win on trigger ballots, or, if triggered, on the three-month open selection is all work, time and energy I think most people want us to be spending doing our jobs – challenging govt, developing Labour policy and trying to win general election.”

