SCOTTISH Labour leader Richard Leonard has been challenged to say if he supports plans that could lead to the many of his own MSPs losing their jobs.

Leonard was quizzed by colleagues last week over fears he wants to give thousands of trade unionists a vote in the selection of candidates for Holyrood, a move which would likely tilt his party to the Left.

It is understood he was non committal when pushed, with one party source saying this change would create a “huge rift”.

Leonard, a left wing ally of Jeremy Corbyn, has struggled to assert his authority on his MSPs, a majority of whom backed moderate Anas Sarwar in the 2017 contest.

Opinion polls also show that Labour stands to lose many of their MSPs at the next election, a prospect that will lead to a scramble for prized slots on the eight regional lists the party depends on.

The internal election to decide who tops each list is crucial and Leonard’s allies are determined left wingers will get the best places.

In past contests, Scottish Labour members have ranked the candidates, but two changes have been discussed internally by left-wingers.

One is for the party’s governing body, not members, to appoint candidates, a plan that is unlikely to pass as it deemed to be extreme.

The second idea is to expand the franchise so that a tier of “affiliated supporters” - trade unionists who back Labour - also get a vote.

Supporters can vote in leadership contests, but not candidate selections, and their inclusion could be problematic for moderate MSPs who are sceptical of Leonard and Corbyn.

At the last Scottish Labour leadership contest, 77.3% of the 4,242 affiliated supporters who took part in the ballot supported Leonard. If the contest had been restricted to party members, the result would have been much tighter.

It is understood that “list selections” were on the agenda for the MSP group meeting last week and Leonard was asked about extending the franchise to trade union supporters.

Leonard is said to have ruled nothing in or out, which his critics have interpreted as him trying to buy time ahead of a final decision next year.

Such a move would likely give Labour’s biggest affiliated trade union, Unite, a huge say in candidate selections.

The bulk of supporters who were recruited during the 2017 contest were from Unite and the 4,242 amounted to around 20% of all voters.

Asked earlier this year about the idea of trade union supporters having a vote in List selections, Leonard told this newspaper:

“I don’t anticipate having US-style primaries for the selection of candidates for the Scottish Labour party.”

Scottish Tory chief whip Maurice Golden said: “Richard Leonard has scared off voters and alienated party members. Now he’s even trying to incur the wrath of his MSP group. Anyone watching what happens with Labour in London will be unsurprised by this particular coup. All the Labour leadership seem to care about is getting their cronies plum jobs.”

Labour did not provide a comment.