PRESSURE is increasing on Kezia Dugdale to step down amid growing discontent among Scottish Labour members about her performance over the past 12 months.

Laughter erupted at a UK leadership hustings in Glasgow last week when challenger Owen Smith – whom Dugdale had endorsed – said she was doing "a brilliant job" and yesterday a senior figure in Jeremy Corbyn’s London team reportedly said she should be "put out in the wilderness".

Now two party activists north of the Border have urged her to step aside and allow a new leader to help build Scottish Labour as it heads towards next year’s council elections.

“It’s time for Dugdale to go" one told The National. "We are struggling for survival here and she’s only making things worse by coming out and backing Owen Smith. She isn’t popular in Scotland and that was obvious by the reaction from the audience at the hustings the other night. It has become an embarrassment.”

He added that members were unhappy about a lengthy period during which she was out of the country over the summer, including a stint in the United States in the weeks that followed the shock Brexit vote.

He said members were also concerned about her flip-flopping on key policy areas including whether members should be allowed to campaign for a Yes vote and on the Scottish Government’s named person scheme.

“Dugdale is a law unto herself," he added. "She makes decisions about the leadership contest without consulting anyone. Then there was the amount of time she took off on holiday. The only people who are supporting her are her hand-picked front benchers.”

A second source in the party said the best way to oust her would be for a challenger such as her deputy Alex Rowley or former leadership candidate Neil Findlay, both of whom support Corbyn, to step up to the mark.

“Alex Rowley or Neil Findlay are the two favourites and I am sure they would get enough backing to stand against her as a candidate to trigger a leadership contest in Scotland,” he said.

“The party is in total disarray. It is getting pulled in all different directions. We need clear and decisive leadership and we all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet, otherwise Scottish Labour will continue to break down.

“The other options are for a vote of no confidence or for her front bench to resign but that’s not going to happen as she has their support, for the time being anyway.”

Neither Dugdale nor Rowley were at the event at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre last Thursday, where about 500 Labour members gathered to hear the head-to-head debate between Corbyn and Smith.

At an event in Edinburgh on Friday, Corbyn refused to say whether Dugdale should face a leadership challenge, adding that he was "disappointed" to have lost her support.

“It’s not my decision whether she face a challenge or not, that’s a matter for the Scottish Labour Party, and her,” he said.

Dugdale beat Ken Macintosh in the Scottish Labour leadership contest last August. She took over from Jim Murphy, who stood down after the party’s disastrous General Election performance that May, when it lost 40 seats and held onto a single MP, Ian Murray.

But since then Labour support has further diminished, and in May the party slipped to third place behind the Tories in the Holyrood election.

Former Labour advisor Paul Sinclair claimed in an interview with BBC Scotland last week that Dugdale could face a challenge from Rowley if Corbyn, as expected, continues as UK Labour leader.

But Rowley insisted a leadership challenge was "absolutely not on the cards" and called suggestions he wanted to replace Dugdale "rubbish".

Findlay has also said there is "absolutely no way" he would consider standing again, adding that Dugdale had a "very large mandate to lead the Scottish Labour party".

A Scottish Labour spokesman said last night: “Kezia Dugdale has the support of the vast majority of people in Scottish Labour. She received 72 per cent of the vote in the leadership contest last year. The problems of the Scottish Labour Party didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be fixed overnight. Kezia Dugdale has the long-term vision, energy and policies to get us back on track.”