REBEL Liverpool MP Jane Kennedy is poised to stand for a key Labour post that could provide a platform for a fresh bid to topple Gordon Brown.

Several dozen unhappy backbenchers – in despair over the Prime Minister's leadership – are urging the Wavertree MP to bid for the chairmanship of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).

The role would see Ms Kennedy oversee the weekly PLP meetings, where backbenchers can question Mr Brown and other ministers – and tell them where they are going wrong.

A challenge is brewing because of growing frustration that the current chairman, Brown-loyalist Tony Lloyd, is stifling dissent in order to prop up the prime minister.

Ms Kennedy is being touted as a possible replacement after quitting the Government at the height of the last anti-Brown plot in June, refusing to give a "pledge of loyalty" and warning Labour could cease to exist as a fighting force.

Last night, asked if she would mount a challenge for the PLP leadership, the former environment minister, said: "I'm not ruling it out.

"A few dozen backbenchers – from right across the political spectrum – have encouraged me to stand for election, because they are so frustrated with what is going on.

"They agree with me that the PLP ought to be a forum in which Labour MPs can express their views without fear or favour, yet, increasingly, no notice is being taken of them."

However, Ms Kennedy admitted she was wrestling with fears that the role would drag her away from her constituency – a key Liberal Democrat election target – in the run-up to next year's election.