A row has broken out over the future direction of Momentum after its chair proposed that its first ever conference should be held online only.

Jon Lansman, who founded the group after playing a key role in Jeremy Corbyn’s 2015 Labour leadership campaign, is facing opposition to his proposals from the London and northern regional committees of the group. The two committees passed motions condemning Lansman and demanding a recall of the steering committee and a re-election of its members.

Lansman’s proposals include allowing Momentum’s 20,000 members to vote directly on its direction and structures. One Momentum insider said certain factions in the movement wanted a traditional conference with elected delegates, but it was feared those delegates were likely to be self-selecting “old hands” and could alienate younger, more digitally savvy members with no prior experience of political movements.

“The proposal for all members voting is very good, it involves loads of online participation to edit proposals over time, that people can then pledge support for, and it’s very similar to [leftwing Spanish political party] Podemos’s system,” the source said.

“But it’s being quite politicised and it’s standing in for a series of tensions which are actually about issues between people who have been in Labour or leftwing groups for a long time, and people who haven’t – those who are young and those who are older. And it’s become very personalised around Lansman, which isn’t right.”

The online conference had not been Lansman’s idea originally but one he had gradually warmed towards, the source said. “Jon gets criticised for being the arch-controller, but he is the one backing the least-controllable option, which is to his credit.”

Momentum’s national steering committee, whose members include former Corbyn campaign staffer Sam Tarry and Labour NEC members Christine Shawcroft and Darren Williams, called an emergency meeting on Thursday, where a surprise vote was taken to give members the power to determine the direction of the movement.

That decision was opposed by other members, including Jill Mountford from the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty (AWL) and the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary, Matt Wrack, who favour a delegate model.

Steering committee members also voted to postpone a scheduled meeting this month of the national committee, a higher body which has not met for several months.

“Over the coming months, members will propose their ideas on Momentum’s aims, ethics, and structure,” an email to members from the steering committee said. “We will use digital technology to ensure that all members can be involved and shape Momentum’s future.”

Steering committee member Michael Chessum, who also opposed the move, said the decision to hold a virtual conference had been sprung at the last minute.

“This was in a meeting called with 19 hours notice,” he wrote in a Facebook post after the meeting. “A lot of this was justified with an attitude of: ‘it can’t possibly be undemocratic to let all members vote, so pack up your deliberative structures and democratically agreed processes.’ Whatever your view, this is just an outrageous, farcical way for that decision to be made.”

Speaking at the Labour Representation Committee conference at the weekend, Wrack said Momentum was a “huge opportunity, but I have to say in my view, an opportunity that could well be squandered”.

He added: “I think Jon Lansman has some questions to answer about the conduct of the organisation.”

Wrack said there was a “reticence to have any trust or confidence” in local Momentum groups. “I find it quite staggering what has happened over the past 24 hours, comrades,” he said.

“It is an insult to local groups and I believe it needs challenging. People actually have to face each other and talk to each other and have to have meetings sometimes, and if you think you can change the Labour party without doing that you are living in cloud cuckoo land.”

Prominent Momentum members have begun to openly call for the removal of Lansman. Momentum campaigner Tony Greenstein used a blogpost to accuse Lansman of a coup. “They are the very antithesis of democratic socialism,” he wrote.

Momentum’s northern regional committee said in a statement that it wanted “the national committee to recall the current steering committee and elect a new lineup to take Momentum’s work forward until the national conference”.

A spokesperson for Momentum said: “Jon Lansman is the chair of the steering committee, he was elected to this position in February, and is an integral part of our movement. The national committee meeting will take place in December. The exact date will be determined this week.

“Momentum is made up of activists from several political and organisational traditions. Debate – and yes, some disagreement – is not only to be expected but healthy. These creative differences and pluralist approach ultimately strengthen Momentum. Talk of a split is nonsense.”

