An MP has been sacked as Labour's vice chair after publicly joining calls for a leadership election.

Joan Ryan was also removed as Gordon Brown's envoy to Cyprus, as he faces increasing pressure from Labour ranks.

Five Labour MPs - Fiona Mactaggart, Siobhain McDonagh, George Howarth, Janet Anderson and Ms Ryan - want leadership nomination forms sent out.

And fellow MPs Graham Stringer and Gordon Prentice have publicly called for a leadership contest.

On Friday, junior whip Siobhain McDonagh was fired for calling for a debate on Gordon Brown's leadership.

Seventy MPs would have to nominate a challenger to Gordon Brown to force a leadership contest.

The Labour Party has told BBC political editor Nick Robinson that nine had so far asked for nomination papers to be issued to all members of the parliamentary party.

But the party's general secretary Ray Collins has rejected the MPs' call - saying that under party rules he is not required to issue the forms to all MPs.

The party's annual conference starts in Manchester next weekend.

Former Home Office minister Mr Howarth - who has also signed a magazine article calling on the party to be "bold" - told the BBC he had made his request for nomination papers to be sent out roughly two weeks ago.

Ms Mactaggart said she made her request for the papers to be sent out at the end of August.

'No plot'

Several more Labour MPs are expected to air their views in the next few days.

Ms Ryan - MP for Enfield North and a former Home Office minister - said a leadership contest was essential to meeting the needs of the country.

"I think we need to have a leadership election to trigger a deep and far-reaching debate and those people in our party who have something to offer and are capable of leadership need to put themselves forward," she said.

"We need a multiplicity of candidates. That's a healthy thing to do and that's part of the democracy of our party. It's happening anyway, but it's happening behind closed doors."

Ms Ryan was made Mr Brown's Cyprus envoy when he entered Number 10 in June last year. Earlier this month she took part in negotiations alongside Europe minister Jim Murphy over reunifying the island.

She told the Today programme she was not part of a plot.

"I know there's a lot of people feel the same way and I know they find it very difficult to openly raise this issue," she said.

"I find it very hard. I'm a loyalist to my government. But I actually feel now this is the most responsible thing I can do and I would be irresponsible if I didn't now speak up."

Meanwhile, six former ministers are among 12 Labour MPs who signed the article in Progress magazine calling for a "convincing new narrative" from Labour.

But there have also been a string of MPs loyal to Mr Brown dismissing the actions of those calling for a leadership election.

Tony Lloyd, the chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, said he did not know of any great amount of support for Ms Ryan's position.

"What it does represent is a handful of people who are not joined by the overwhelming majority of Labour MPs," he said.

Labour's deputy leader, Harriet Harman, has also criticised those Labour MPs seeking a leadership contest.

"I think it is an error of judgement," she said.

"I think people would expect the party of government to be focused on taking us through difficult economic times and protecting those at risk."

Labour MP for Dagenham, John Cruddas, has dismissed the calls for a leadership election as an indulgent sideshow that would do nothing but harm to the party.

Mr Cruddas - who ran for the deputy party leadership last year - said those seeking a challenge to Mr Brown were "delusional".

And in an interview in the Daily Telegraph, Schools Secretary Ed Balls, one of Gordon Brown's most senior allies, said there was "very little chance" of the prime minister being ousted before the next election.

But the BBC's Nick Robinson said: "I believe that those involved in this believe they do not currently have the numbers, but they want to create a momentum."

He added: "There will be MPs thinking 'is it time for me to move?'"

The article in Progress said: "Labour needs to provide a convincing new narrative if left-of-centre politics are to remain the driving force in Britain.

"This has to be more than a series of policy initiatives. It has to set a new framework for post-credit crunch Britain."

They also said it was an urgent task for the party to "renew confidence in our economic competence", and described recent policies as being "defensive" when the party needed to be "bold".

The article's signatories include former culture minister Janet Anderson, Mr Howarth, former transport ministers Stephen Ladyman and Karen Buck and Paddy Tipping, who was deputy leader of the Commons.

Also putting their name to the article are backbenchers Eric Joyce, Sally Keeble, Martin Linton, Shona McIsaac, Margaret Moran and Tom Levitt.

(BBC)

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