Blears in crunch meeting with party

Ms Blears, already damaged by the expenses scandal, angered party workers by walking out of the Cabinet on the eve of the local elections.

The ex-Communities Secretary's decision was described as a "body blow" for the party and inadvertently may have led to BNP success at the polls as Labour's traditional vote, reeling from the expenses scandal and her Cabinet walkout, failed to turn out to vote.

Ms Blears will appear before a meeting of the Salford Constituency Labour Party on Thursday night, where local members will vote on a resolution to deselect her.

She received backing from senior figures in her constituency association in the wake of the expenses revelations, but support is not universal from local members.

It is understood that three ward branches of Salford Labour Party are putting forward motions of no confidence in her for consideration.

A demonstration has been organised for outside the venue of the meeting by grass-roots local community magazine the Salford Star, which is running a "Hazel Must Go!" campaign and petition.

Ms Blears, the MP for Salford since 1997, has since apologised for her Cabinet walkout, saying she made an error of judgment over her timing.

Ms Blears voluntarily paid £13,000 to the taxman last month after it emerged she had "dual declared" to avoid capital gains on a taxpayer-funded home.

Gordon Brown had earlier described Ms Blears's failure to pay capital gains tax on the sale of a second home as "totally unacceptable".