The Labor Party's national executive will meet today to override an attempt by the Western Australian branch to dump two of its most prominent federal MPs.

Frontbenchers Gary Gray and Alannah MacTiernan were at risk of losing preselection for their seats of Brand and Perth because the pair refused to sign a "candidate's pledge", which would bind them to the policies and platform of the WA branch and force them to obey the directions of state secretary Patrick Gorman.

Both MPs submitted a redacted version of the pledge, along with their nominations, which the WA branch refused to accept.

However a committee of the ALP national executive has intervened in the stoush and will recommend that both Mr Gray's and Ms MacTiernan's nominations be accepted.

The ABC understands the committee has gone one step further and will tell the national executive to confirm Mr Gray's pre-selection for the seat of Brand and Matt Keogh's pre-selection for the new seat of Burt.

It is a significant intervention, given Mr Gray was facing a challenge from the party's left, which was supporting electrician Adam Woodage, 28, a member of the Electrical Trade Union for pre-selection.

But it is clear Mr Gray, a former resources minister and national secretary, has the support of the party's leadership with the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and senior frontbencher Anthony Albanese both backing his fight for pre-selection.

Mr Shorten said he firmly believed Mr Gray would be Labor's candidate for Brand at the next election.

"I support Gary Gray, I think the party needs him and I want to utilise his services in Canberra at the next election," he said.

Pledge archaic, outdated: Albanese

Mr Gray said the pledge was "unreasonable, unparliamentary and undemocratic" and he could not sign it because the policies of the West Australian branch were "widely divergent" from federal Labor's.

He cited uranium mining and coal seam gas exploration as two such policy areas.

"So just in those two areas that are absolutely central to the job of being federal resources minister, it's not possible for me to sign a pledge that would commit me to support and uphold in any way the decisions of the state conference on these matters or the state administrative committee on these matters, or the state executive on these matters," he said.

Mr Albanese agreed the pledge was "outdated" and needed to be fixed.

"This is an archaic pledge ... pledging to be bound by the WA ALP conference," he said.

"As a federal candidate, what he's bound by is the national platform of the Labor Party."

Mr Gray joined the Labor Party in 1974 and was national secretary of the ALP from 1993 to 2000.

He became the Member for Brand in 2007.