The government should not rely so heavily on unofficial advisers, a senior union leader has warned.

Speaking on Monday, the retiring general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, Bill Morris, also argued Labour should be judged on their record in power and not on recent events.

"There are a lot of talents in the Labour Party," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"Peter Mandelson has got a tremendous amount of talent, so has Alastair Campbell.

"But I hope the prime minister doesn't bring back the back seat drivers. We have got a new director of communications who will take office shortly.

"He must not be undermined. The prime minister must have one source in terms of direction of communicating the government's policy. We don't want the back seat drivers - that's a recipe for chaos."

"We have to judge the prime minister and the government on its record," he added.

"It has delivered the best economic programme of any government since 1945. We have some issues to address and these are social issues."

His comments came as a number of newspapers reported that former Cabinet minister Mandelson had been involved in Campbell's "exit strategy".

The claim was immediately criticised by the Conservatives.

"No sooner does one spin doctor leave than he is invited back through the revolving door," said a spokesman for leader Iain Duncan Smith.