GLASGOW’S Labour councillors are at war over the leadership of the local authority, the Evening Times can today reveal.

Council leader Gordon Matheson has told colleagues he is ready to stand down next year - but pressure is building for him to go sooner.

At a meeting of the city's Labour councillors on Wednesday he set out a timetable for his departure which could see him resign at the next group AGM in May 2016.

However, sources in the Labour group last night suggested said he could face a coup during recess, which begins today.

Several senior councillors have demanded that Mr Matheson quits “sooner rather than later” and claims have been made that more than half of the city’s 45 Labour councillors are unhappy with his leadership.

Mr Matheson launched a bid to become deputy leader of Scottish Labour last week which could now be derailed.

It is understood he also has ambitions to become an MSP and intends to put himself forward for selection as a candidate on Glasgow’s regional list.

The council chief was last night tight-lipped but a senior Labour source at the city chambers insisted Mr Matheson will not step down as council leader before May 2016.

However, the Evening Times has learned that senior council colleagues are plotting to remove him from the position he has held for more than five years.

Councillor Frank McAveety, a former MSP and Scottish Government minister who is widely tipped as a potential successor to Mr Matheson, described Wednesday’s meeting of Labour councillors as “stormy”.

“Gordon has made a decision to go and it’s about how he manages that,” said Mr McAveety.

“The majority of the group think it would be better if Gordon’s transition is sooner rather than later so that the Labour group is ready for the elections in 2017.

“It’s not personal; it’s about the future of the party and the city. There is change happening and it needs to happen sooner rather than later.”

A senior Labour source at the city chambers said: “The public are looking closely at the Labour Party in Glasgow just now. The actions of a tiny number of people acting in this disreputable manner is exactly why we lose elections.

“Gordon contacted the group on June 15 to advise them he was standing as candidate for Scottish Labour deputy leader and he made it clear that he would remain as leader until the Labour group AGM in 2016. This is precisely the position that he restated at the meeting this week.”

Councillor Jonathan Findlay, a former chairman of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, last night suggested the Labour group could move against Mr Matheson after August’s council by-elections.

He said: “The presumption now is he can’t carry on beyond the next AGM in 2016 but there is no doubt the new leader will need longer than a year as a lead in to the May 2017 local elections.

“After the Scottish Labour leadership elections and the by-elections in August we should revisit this and it may be that Gordon himself decides to look for a dignified exit.”

Councillor George Redmond, who was also at the Labour group meeting on Wednesday, was more bullish.

He said: “I was privy to it all and the reality is Gordon needs to go. He's going to try to dig his heels in but I don't think the group will accept that. It was very evident at the meeting.

“He needs to go and I think things will be much clearer by Friday. I think it's fair to say there will be a conversation with him.”

In an email sent to councillors last week, seen by the Evening Times, Mr Matheson insisted he will seek to remain as council leader until May 2016’s AGM, whether or not he is elected deputy leader of Scottish Labour.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I intend to remain as leader of the group and council until the 2016 AGM,” Mr Matheson stated. “My decision to stand for deputy leader is clearly a new development.”

A source close to Mr Matheson said there had been no calls for the council leader to quit in the Labour group meeting and was keen to stress that the majority of councillors back the leader.

“Some councillors asked for timetable in the event that Gordon is elected deputy leader and he stated his intention to stand down at the 2016 AGM,” said the source.

“The political priority is now the council by-elections and the wider Labour Party in Glasgow is looking for the councillors to get out and lead campaigning and begin the process of winning back trust.”