Tom Watson has endorsed Douglas Alexander, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, to replace him as Labour’s campaign co-ordinator.

Mr Watson (Lab West Bromwich East), who last week resigned from his shadow cabinet role leading Labour’s election campaign, said: “Douglas is our most experienced front line strategist. He has worked for both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and is the natural choice to take forward Labour’s positive message to rebuild our country after the 2015 election.

“It’s obviously not my choice who Ed chooses replace him but if it was Douglas, he would have my full support.

“There are millions of people wanting Labour to win the next general election. A unified labour party is an essential component of our plan.

“I want party members on the ground to be in no doubt that in Westminster, we are completely unified in our desire to win for them in the Euro elections in 2014 and the general election in 2015.

“Douglas, with his characteristic humility and razor sharp mind can refocus the campaign on the issues that matter to people facing a huge fall in living standards”