Plans by Labour’s Left to unite behind a candidate to take on Gordon Brown were put on hold yesterday amid bickering between rival camps over who should stand against him.

Michael Meacher and John McDonnell, each accompanied by two parliamentary colleagues, met twice in anticipation of a deal under which one would step aside to support the other.

But, with arrangements for a joint press conference already announced, their plan was shelved as they argued over which had the most supporters.

The two men and their lieutenants first met in a room in 1 Parliament Street, a Commons outbuilding, where the teams sat down to compare piles of written pledges from fellow MPs. But as they began to tot up their numbers, the process became bogged down. Claims of support from MPs for one camp appear to have disputed by the other, based on informal conversations, while some MPs were listed as supporters of both candidates. The meeting broke up after an hour.

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Attempts to trace several of the MPs in question to clarify their position were unsuccessful; most MPs were travelling from the Commons to their constituencies and could not be reached.

Negotiations resumed later in the afternoon, this time in a small room off Westminster Hall, with the clock ticking towards their joint press conference, scheduled for 4pm.

Again, however, the two camps argued over which candidate had the most backing among MPs, with the arguments over the disputed nomination pledges unresolved. After another hour the talks were called off.

At 3.15pm, embarrassed aides said that joint press conference would be postponed until Monday. This immediately triggered media speculation that, even after combining their nominations, the two candidates were unable to muster the backing of 44 MPs between them.

Aides of both men vehemently denied this. In a carefully worded statement, one told The Times: “The aggregate total of these signed statements is clearly in excess of the number needed to get a candidate on the ballot paper.”

The issue, the aide said, was to determine which candidate had the more support. “It is too close to call,” he said.

The contest to become Labour’s next deputy leader gathered pace yesterday as Peter Hain and Harriet Harman revealed that they had won enough support from MPs to reach the final ballot.

Hilary Benn, who is widely tipped by bookmakers as favourite or second-favourite for the post, is said by MPs to be struggling and may not even get his name on the ballot paper.

Three of the candidates whose names will go forward are now clear, as Alan Johnson is also certain to make the final run-off.

Mr Hain surprised some colleagues at Westminster as he published the names of 47 Labour MPs that backed his campaign. Ms Harman also released the names of 45 MPs ready to nominate her for the post. Although Mr Johnson has not disclosed a full list of supporters, rival camps concede that he already has between 70 and 80 MPs signed up.

Many MPs believe that Jon Cruddas, the dark-horse candidate whose campaign has a grass-roots focus, is close to getting the backing of 45 MPs that is required. Hazel Blears is still a handful short of the target.

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