Two economic advisers to Jeremy Corbyn have said they do not believe he can win the next election and the party would have a better chance under Owen Smith.

David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, and Simon Wren-Lewis, a professor at Oxford University, who have been members of Labour’s economic advisory committee but are now expressing reservations about Corbyn’s leadership. The committee was convened by the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, and reported directly to Corbyn.

Blanchflower walked away from the advisory committee in June and has now decided to publicly back Smith after coming to the conclusion that Corbyn is “absolutely, completely unelectable”. He said Corbyn was unable to form a strong opposition when the economy appeared to be “going down very fast” after the vote to leave the EU.

The academic, who teaches at Dartmouth College in the US and is known for predicting the 2008 recession, said consumer confidence had collapsed and it appeared the economy was in serious trouble, with “horrible” economic indicators emerging.

“With the economy in the state it’s in, it needs all hands to the pump – businesses, unions, workers, government, opposition,” he told the Guardian.



Blanchflower, who is advocating a 5% cut in VAT, also said Smith had been better at consulting businesses and economists in three weeks than Corbyn’s leadership had over the last nine months.

David Blanchflower: Jeremy Corbyn is ‘absolutely, completely unelectable’. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Wren-Lewis, who was still a member of the committee until meetings were suspended in June, wrote on his blog: “What seems totally clear to me is that given recent events a Corbyn-led party cannot win in 2020, or even come close.

“I was highly critical of the anti-Corbynistas who wanted to argue that their antics were having no impact on public opinion, so it would be absurd for me to pretend that people would elect to power a Labour party that had voted no confidence in its leader.”

In a comment on a later post, he acknowledged that he wants Smith to win the leadership contest.

A shadow Treasury team spokesman dismissed Blanchflower’s criticisms, saying his work for Labour had never come to fruition.



“It’s regrettable that [he] feels this way but we wish him well, and thank him for the kind words he has said of John McDonnell previously regarding the economic policy he has produced as shadow chancellor,” the spokesman said.

It comes as the two campaigns had their first serious skirmish, as Smith was accused by the Corbyn camp of talking up the threat of a split in the party and giving tacit support to plotters who want to see it divided.

McDonnell, chairman of Corbyn’s campaign, said Smith must do more to denounce those seeking a split or risk becoming the “disunity candidate”.

“If he continues to refuse to denounce those calling for a split, then members will think he is simply trying to scaremonger them to vote for him by his talking up of threats from a minority of MPs supporting his campaign who are plotting to split our party in Tory newspapers, while at the same time refusing to denounce them,” McDonnell said.

“And it will be hard for anyone to tell how much Owen truly is opposed to a split, and how much he is giving tacit support to those plotters in a hope it helps his campaign.”

Smith’s campaign chief, Kate Green, rejected the idea that Smith is at risk of contributing to a split. “The irony of John McDonnell offering hollow words on party unity will not be lost on Labour members and supporters,” she said.

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said Owen Smith must do more to denounce those seeking to split the party. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA

But a Corbyn ally hit back, saying: “It’s not gone unnoticed that they’re clearly dodging the question. Why won’t Owen Smith’s campaign just simply condemn those who want to split our party? It’s very odd, what do they have to hide?”

Earlier, Smith’s leadership campaign had accused Corbyn of reluctance to take part in live television debates.

The pair are expected to go head to head for the first time on Thursday at a debate in Cardiff organised by Labour. Corbyn is also expected to received the endorsement of the Communication Workers Union on Monday after a ballot of members.

But Corbyn declined to take part in a Channel 4 hustings on Monday and will address members in Liverpool instead.

A spokesman for Corbyn said: “Jeremy will definitely participate in broadcast debates, but it’s for the party to facilitate rather than dictate which ones the candidates take part in.”

Corbyn is considered the strong favourite to win the leadership contest without the need to win over more members. In contrast, Smith is a lesser-known name and will be keen to raise his profile as much as possible.

In another controversy on Sunday, Smith’s campaign was forced to apologise for sending automated text messages to Labour members and supporters that arrived in the middle of the night by mistake, infuriating many recipients.

A campaign spokesman said: “There was a technical glitch with the system used for sending out messages, which meant some texts were delivered after the intended 8pm cut-off. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.”