KEZIA Dugdale has launched a scathing attack on the frontrunner for the UK Labour leadership race, saying Jeremy Corbyn would leave Scottish Labour “carping from the sidelines” for years.

Dugdale, the favourite to be next Scottish Labour leader, said she was not convinced Corbyn could be prime minister.

Although unwilling to divulge which of the four candidates for the national leadership she would back, Dugdale was happy to criticise the frontrunner.

“There are loads of people [in the Labour party] who are quite prepared to say ‘Och, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t look like a prime minister, there’s someone who’s authentic and says what they believe’.” she said .

“But I want there to be a Labour government; otherwise I’m wasting my time. I don’t want to spend my whole life just carping from the sidelines.”

It was a strange comment given that it surely would be Dugdale herself responsible for taking Scottish Labour from “the sidelines” and into government.

She then attacked Corbyn for not supporting the policies of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

“You have to convince me that he can be [prime minister]," she said. "Here’s a guy that’s broken the whip 500 times. So how can the leader of the party enforce discipline with that record?”

The interview appeared on the same day that Dugdale’s rival Ken MacIntosh released a statement calling on “senior figures” in the party to stop attacking Corbyn.

MacIntosh said: “Jeremy Corbyn has as much right to stand for the leadership as any other candidate and he should be given the same respect”.

The MSP continued: “I know what it is like to have the party machine operate against you and there are too many people trying to exercise undue influence on this contest. I think some senior party figures should back off and let the members decide who they want to lead us and in which direction.”

By Friday afternoon, Corbyn and Andy Burnham had both been backed by 17 constituency Labour parties in Scotland. However, nationally Corbyn was way out ahead with 152 backing him, compared to 111 for Burnham and 102 for Yvette Cooper.

A recent private poll leaked to The Mirror suggested 42 per cent of Labour party members would be backing Corbyn.

The veteran left-winger has been under near constant attack since he entered the race.

It was, his allies say, an attempt to start a debate and build a left-wing movement in the party. Corbyn has been as surprised as anyone else at how successful his bid has been.

Blair last week said anyone who voted Corbyn because they felt his politics echoed what was in their heart should have a heart transplant. Supporters hit back, with Dave Ward, leader of the Communications Workers Union, saying Corbyn would be the antidote to the Blairite “virus” that had infected the Labour Party.

Lord Mandelson called for calm this weekend, saying the leadership race was bringing back back the infighting that damaged the party in the early 1980s.

“When people who have devoted almost all of their lives to the election of a Labour government are labelled a ‘virus’ in our party, we really are at risk of reliving the bitter divisions of the early 1980s, divisions that condemned us to years in the wilderness” he said.

A Sunday newspaper yesterday suggested at least eight members of the Shadow Cabinet would refuse to serve under Corbyn. These included senior figures like current Shadow Chancellor Chris Leslie, Shadow Defence Secretary Vernon Croaker, and Shadow Communities Secretary Emma Reynolds.

It is unclear if Ian Murray, the Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, would remain or leave. He used a speech on Thursday to back Cooper for the top job.

Labour sources told a newspaper it would be unlikely they would oust Corbyn immediately, but rather wait for what they believe would be disastrous results in elections for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, and English local government in May.

In another piece, Dugdale called for the House of Lords to be scrapped and replaced with a second chamber based in Scotland. She wrote: “The alleged nocturnal activities of Lord Sewel have at least served one useful purpose. The debate on the future of the House of Lords has returned to the front pages again. I want an elected second chamber and I believe it has to be based beyond London.”

Bizarrely, Dugdale then decided it should be based in Glasgow, because it is a “Yes city” – perhaps forgetting the city had actually voted Yes to getting shot of the lot of them. “Where better than the biggest city of a nation that has just reaffirmed its commitment to keeping our country together?” she mused. “A Yes city. A city bristling with political energy, art, culture, deep-rooted poverty and grand history. A city hungry for change.”

An SNP spokesperson said: “The comments reveal potential Labour divisions north and south of the border – before the hopefuls have even been confirmed.”