By Tom Gordon, Paul Hutcheon, Andrew Whitaker and Kate Devlin

KEZIA Dugdale plunged her party into a fresh crisis yesterday, claiming Jeremy Corbyn cannot unite Labour or win a general election just minutes after he was re-elected as UK leader.

His mandate enhanced by a convincing 62-38 win over Owen Smith, Corbyn told Labour members in Liverpool: “I have no doubt that this party can win the next general election.”

But almost immediately Dugdale contradicted him in an interview with BBC News.

Asked about a recent newspaper article in which she wrote, “I don’t think Jeremy can unite our party and lead us into government”, the Scottish Labour leader replied: “I’m not changing that view. It’s very clear. It’s written down.”

Facing a backlash from Corbyn supporters, Dugdale later scrambled to reverse her position, telling BBC Scotland that “of course” a party Labour led by Corbyn can win an election.

However the damage was done, and the blunder has put her leadership back in the spotlight.

Dugdale, who supported Smith for leader, cast doubt on Corbyn’s sincerity about delivering unity as soon as his victory was announced just before noon yesterday.

In an inflammatory statement issued after Corbyn offered to “wipe the slate clean” after months of bitter infighting, Dugdale said it would be “difficult” for him to achieve.

She said: “Jeremy can unite the Labour Party, but he needs to want to unite it. That means he needs to work with both the party across the country and MPs to provide an effective opposition to the Tories. It will be a difficult task for Jeremy, but not an impossible one.”

Dugdale, who half-heartedly clapped Corbyn’s win before dashing from the conference hall while he was being congratulated inside, now faces a revolt from his backers.

Many Scottish Labour members are already unhappy that she called Corbyn “not competent” in July, despite campaigning alongside him at the Holyrood election, then publicly declared for his rival.

Pat Rafferty, Scottish general secretary of the super-union Unite, Labour’s biggest donor, said Dugdale’s questioning of Corbyn’s willingness to unite Labour was “ridiculous”.

He said: “It seems to imply that Jeremy doesn't want to unite the party, but throughout the campaign he has done nothing but call for unity. It's a ridiculous statement to make."

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone, who is currently suspended from Labour over remarks about Hitler, said: “Most people in Britain have not heard of her [Dugdale] and frankly what she said is wrong after Jeremy won a convincing leadership election twice in a year.

“She should get behind Jeremy and stop whining."

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell added: “Kezia needs to listen to the speech that Jeremy gave after the result of the election was announced. Jeremy made it extremely clear that he wants to unite the party and this was well received by delegates.

"Kezia can play a role in bringing the party together and help us work closely in taking on the Tories and the SNP. Jeremy badly wants this unity. Kezia will fully understand that when she and Jeremy talk in the days and weeks ahead."

Labour' elections chair Jon Trickett said: "It's the job of all of us to get behind the leader and on reflection she might feel that she was not as full-hearted as she could have been for the leader."

Vince Mills, of the Campaign for Socialism, said: “It’s going to be difficult for Kez to unite the Scottish Labour party if that’s her attitude.

“It’s clear that the new members in Scotland have come from the left and we now have a left-wing party, although more narrowly than in England. I don’t think Kez is accepting that.

“When she first took over there was the very positive October conference, with steps to the left. But since then she’s shown signs of returning to her default position on the right of the party.”

He said next May’s council elections could be decisive.

“If Kezia led from the front and made it clear she wanted a party that’s quite different from Corbyn's, and Labour lost, then I think that would be a signal that perhaps the leadership needs to change.”

Dugdale’s Scottish Labour deputy Alex Rowley, who backed Corbyn, said pointedly: "I think Jeremy Corbyn is absolutely committed to uniting the party and the country."

Left-wing MSP Elaine Smith added: “I think Jeremy does want to take the party to victory. I think he’s a man of steel when you look at what has happened over the summer.”

Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack said that, unlike Dugdale, Corbyn had tried to be conciliatory.

"She has misjudged the views of Labour and union members with this statement.”

Manuel Cortés, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, added: “The leader of the Scottish Labour Party has got a responsibility to work to unite the party. She's clearly disappointed the candidate she supported did not win. I hope she will reflect on what she said, as frankly the comments were not helpful to her or the Labour party.”

Speaking to the Sunday Herald in Liverpool after the leadership result, Dugdale demanded “deeds not words” from Corbyn, including an end to deselection threats against Labour MPs and a return to shadow cabinet elections, as proposed by Corbyn’s deputy Tom Watson.

She said she did not think she would face any moves against her leadership.

“I don’t feel vulnerable,” she said. “When I took on this job I did it under very difficult circumstances. I’ve come through a Scottish Parliament campaign. I have a 72 per cent mandate from the party membership. I have the support of my parliamentary colleagues.”

Labour MSP Neil Findlay, a close Corbyn ally who is often tipped to replace Dugdale, said there was “no chance” of a move against her, and defended her decision to back Smith.

He said: “People back different horses in elections. The important thing now is to unite”.

Findlay also hit out at Paul Mason, the journalist and prominent Corbyn supporter, who claimed Scottish Labour might back independence. He was “talking bollocks”, Findlay tweeted.

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: "It is only two years since more than 2 million Scots voted to reject independence in the biggest ever political decision our country has made.

“There will be no support from our party for another referendum."

Tory party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin said: “Labour are too divided, distracted and incompetent to build a country that works for everyone. 172 Labour MPs don’t think Jeremy Corbyn can lead the Labour party – so how can he lead the country?

“Instead of learning lessons from the past, they have engaged in a bitter power struggle that will continue even after they’ve picked a leader.”