CALLS for the head of Jim Murphy mounted yesterday after the man he defeated for the Scottish Labour leadership resigned from his team.

Mr Murphy lost his East Renfrewshire seat in last week’s general election but has vowed to stay on and lead his party in to next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.

But over the weekend unions insisted it was time for a new leader to take the helm.

Unite Scottish regional secretary Pat Rafferty said it was “time for change.”

He said: “Labour in Scotland has been bleeding support and credibility for years.

“On one issue after another — the embrace of Blairism, the opposition to a second ‘devomax’ question in last year’s referendum, the decision to campaign with the Tories in the ill-judged Better Together campaign, and in the election of a new leader last year — Unite has warned against the course being followed by the party and has, alas, been proved right.”

Train drivers’ union Aslef organiser Kevin Lindsay said: “Jim Murphy has just presided over the worst election defeat in the history of the Scottish Labour Party. He has to go now.”

Neil Findlay, the left-winger who stood against Mr Murphy in the leadership elections five months ago, resigned from the Scottish Labour shadow cabinet on Saturday calling for “radical solutions.”

He has ruled out standing for the leadership if Mr Murphy resigns.

An influential source on the left of the party said Mr Murphy’s postion was “untenable” but said the leader would not resign unless “people who were seen as his allies turn against him.”

“How can a leader preside over such a disastrous defeat, lose his own seat and then stay on?” they added. Members of Labour’s Scottish executive committee have threatened to table a motion of no confidence if Mr Murphy has not resigned by Saturday.

It is understood MSPs will also voice disquiet at a meeting on Tuesday.