Scottish First Minister Donald Dewar is reported to be facing increasing criticism of his leadership.

Senior Labour sources said they feared Scottish Executive successes were going unnoticed because of the continuing row over special advisers.

They want to see Mr Dewar change his style of leadership after a "disastrous" week for the administration.

He has been urged to focus more on policy and better presentation and be more ruthless with anyone who steps out of line.

Officials said the successful deal on student finance was eclipsed by the furore surrounding the departure of adviser Philip Chalmers, who was forced to go after drink-related motoring offences came to light.

Mr Dewar faced additional embarrassment when chief media adviser David Whitton accused another ousted adviser, John Rafferty, of leaking details of the Chalmers affair to the media.

Mr Whitton was forced to issue an unreserved apology as Mr Rafferty threatened legal action.

One executive source said Mr Dewar must review the whole system of appointing special advisers, which smacked of "cronyism" and must be changed.

Wasted resource

Another source described the policy unit as a wasted resource because many ministers did not use it.

There was also increasing concern about the relationship between Labour backbenchers and the executive, with MSPs accusing the leadership of becoming increasingly detached.

And Mr Dewar faced the prospect of a rift with Labour councillors over the system of proportional representation in council elections.

Many Labour councillors have voiced opposition to the system, which they believe would mean the loss of seats to their rivals.

Assessing the difficulties faced by Mr Dewar, BBC Scotland Chief Political Correspondent John Morrison said: "There is a feeling among backbenchers and members of the executive that the good work they are doing is being completely overshadowed by the problems which seem to keep coming."

Mr Dewar sustained severe criticism from Labour MP George Galloway at the weekend.

Mr Galloway, MP for Glasgow Kelvin, said he feared Westminster MPs could suffer electoral damage from the "dog's breakfast" in Scotland presided over by Mr Dewar.

He predicted Mr Dewar could even be replaced before the year is out.

'Dragging us down'

Mr Galloway said he and his fellow MPs had an interest to declare in events which saw the resignation of one special adviser and a public apology from another.

He said: "We are the next Labour representatives to face the voters and frankly every last one of us thinks Dewar is dragging us down.

"It is high time his parliamentary party got a grip of things before, embarrassingly, Tony Blair has to do it for us."

On Friday, Mr Dewar appealed to party members to judge his administration on its achievements rather than "personal tragedies".