The battle for the leadership of the Labour party took an extraordinary twist on Saturday as Jeremy Corbyn’s aides were accused in effect of breaking into the offices of a resigning shadow cabinet minister in a major breach of security and parliamentary privilege.

Seema Malhotra, who was until recently shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said a campaign of intimidation and harassment against her staff had culminated in the “illegal” and “unauthorised entry” to her office in Westminster.

Malhotra, who worked closely with the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, until her resignation last month, said she had alerted the Speaker of the Commons, John Bercow, and the serjeant at arms, to demand an urgent investigation.

“I have discovered that members of staff working for John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn have gained unauthorised entry into my office in parliament,” Malhotra said in a statement to the Observer.

“The implications of this are extremely serious. This is a breach of parliamentary privilege and is a violation of the privacy, security and confidentiality of a member of parliament’s office.



“Furthermore, my staff, including an intern, who have always been courteous and open, have felt harassed, intimidated and insecure and decided themselves it would be best to not leave anyone alone in the office.

“I have made a formal complaint to the Speaker of the Commons and to Jeremy Corbyn MP, and requested an investigation into how this could have happened.”

Since the police search of the new work and pensions minister Damian Green’s office when he was an opposition MP in 2008, it has been accepted that only a search warrant can justify an entry of a parliamentary office without the wishes of an MP.

A spokesman for shadow chancellor John McDonnell has claimed the row is a ‘small matter’ caused by poor communication. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA

Spokesmen for Corbyn and McDonnell claimed that the row was a “small matter” stemming from a miscommunication, and that access had been sought on the assumption that Malhotra had vacated the office on resigning her post.

The development comes as the Labour leader’s former policy chief, Neale Coleman, becomes the first from his inner circle to condemn Corbyn’s bunker mentality and warn that his victory in the leadership contest “could well mean a May 2017 election and a disastrous defeat for Labour”.

Asked if Corbyn wanted to be prime minister, as he insists he does, Coleman – speaking exclusively to the Observer – said: “I don’t know, but as leader of the opposition he didn’t and hasn’t prioritised strong organisation and teamwork which are prerequisites for leading a government.”

Coleman, who joined Corbyn’s team when he was elected last September, but resigned in January and is now backing Owen Smith for leader, added: “There was real goodwill and a willingness to work with Jeremy after his election, given the mandate he had received and widespread recognition that Labour had been on the wrong path, especially on economic policy.

“Shadow cabinet colleagues had all rejected the negative approach of the relatively small faction on the right who wanted to undermine Jeremy from the start.



“But there was a fundamental failure to reach out and engage with these colleagues and other broadly supportive MPs and build an effective team approach on policy development and on day-to-day opposition to the Tories.



“All too often the response to difficult issues that should have been resolved collectively and cooperatively was not to engage but retreat to the bunker.”

In her letter to the Speaker, Malhotra writes that she has evidence of three unauthorised attempts to enter her parliamentary offices, two of which were successful. She names Corbyn’s gatekeeper and office manager, Karie Murphy, as one of the aides involved.

Malhotra writes: “Suspicion was aroused when [John McDonnell’s aide] accessed my office with her key on 13 July at 18.42 and was surprised to find my member of staff still in the office.

“[McDonnell’s aide] had no reason to be showing anyone around my office – this should not be accessible to anyone without my permission and I was not aware that [the aide] had access to my office.”

Malhotra said she had then ordered an audit of those who had used digital keys to “illegally access an office”, and that two further attempts had been made on 15 July, one of which had been successful.

“My Westminster office was empty as my entire staff were with me in the constituency office that day. It is unclear what their intentions were in my office,” she writes.

Malhotra further accuses Murphy of leaving her staff scared to be alone in the office. She writes in her letter to the Speaker that Murphy had been “aggressive and intimidating”, and had repeatedly referred to them as “girls” which “made them feel insulted and patronised”.

A Corbyn spokesman said: “The accusation that Karie intimidated anyone is untrue.

“As an office manager on the leader of the opposition’s floor Karie has a key to open all offices. She accessed the office in question to confirm when it would be vacated. It is a month since Seema Malhotra resigned as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, and the office is intended for the person holding that position.”

A spokesman for Bercow said: “The Speaker will respond to Ms Malhotra once he has had an opportunity to consider fully the contents of her letter, but there’s nothing further to say at this stage.”

It is understood that Malhotra has also written to Labour’s general secretary, Iain McNicol, to demand a party investigation.