Tensions came to a head last weekend when Jeremy Corbyn’s office discovered that she was to appear on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show last Sunday.
The shadow home secretary is thought to have made arrangements directly with the programme’s producer to appear without the consent of the campaign.
Ms Abbott’s previous media appearances have caused difficulty with Labour candidates. They have reported back to the party’s central command that her “brain fade” moment – when she said that her police recruitment policy would cost £300,000 rather than £300 million on LBC – has come up regularly on the doorstep. The interview was also exploited by the Tories.
Labour sources said John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, and Karie Murphy, Mr Corbyn’s chief of staff, both phoned Ms Abbott to persuade her to pull out of the show but when they failed, the Labour leader phoned her himself, to no avail.
A source said: “John McDonnell was furious at the prospect of Diane going on again. In the end they got Jeremy to phone her himself – but she … went ahead and did the interview, which was predictably awful.