The ALP National Executive has launched a secret review of the party’s Queensland election campaign, Crikey can reveal, amid claims of systemic failures over pre-poll strategy.

The cross-factional probe, confimed by NSW Assistant Secretary Luke Foley this morning, will be led by Foley from the left and new ALP National Secretary Karl Bitar from the right.

It follows frustration from party volunteers over the campaign’s conduct, with basic logistical failures blamed for a poor showing on the frontline.

Both Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh are said to be smarting from the lead up to the poll, that although delivering a Bligh government, left a bitter taste stretching across the party’s rank and file. The ALP recorded a 5% swing against it with the Lawrence Springborg-led LNP picking up 11 seats.

Insiders say a number of high-level ALP figures were “p-ssed off” by the campaign, with Treasurer Wayne Swan apparently furious at failings on the ground. The Prime Minister is said to be concerned at what the poor organisational effort might mean for next year’s federal poll where Queensland seats will again prove crucial.

Bligh’s angst is reflected in state caucus where there is substantial cross-factional anger over numerous failures of strategy. More than one senior minister has been heard demanding personnel changes at the party’s state HQ, insiders say.

Crikey contacted Foley this morning who confirmed the internal probe but refused to reveal details. It will be completed in the next “few weeks”, he said.

“We’ll be reviewing all aspects of Labor’s campaign but we don’t propose to talk publically about it.”

The Queensland campaign was ostensibly run by Bligh’s chief of staff Mike Kaiser but was buttressed at the grassroots by State Secretary Anthony Chisholm and Assistant State Secretary Terry Wood, operating out the state office.

The state branch was rocked two days out from the poll amid claims of systemic mismanagement stemming from a communication breakdown between the state office and the “above-the-line” message driven by Kaiser out of Bligh’s office.

According to frustrated volunteers, even small requests were being ignored with Wood apparently failing to send out postal votes until the second week of the campaign.

Reports suggested a high turnover rate at head office, and an effective centralisation of power in Kaiser’s hands, had meant day-to-day logistical tasks were all but ignored.

Chisholm and Wood are believed to have born the brunt of the frustration. But Kaiser, despite trenchant criticisms over his “key messages”, emerged triumphant, giving this post-poll interview to The Weekend Australian.

The former Queensland MP, who famously fell from grace over a vote-rigging controversy, presented himself as a reborn Svengali, regaling The Oz with his reputation for saving premiers who are “f..ked and far away from home”.

Labor is no stranger to post-poll soul searching. Right-wing powerbroker Robert Ray famously headed up an investigation on last year’s disastrous WA campaign that was posted on the WA branch’s website. It included a Cosmopolitan-style sealed section believed to contain the names of key officials who received a bullocking from the ex-Victorian Senator.

It is unknown whether the Queensland probe will ever see the light of day, with Foley refusing to speculate on a release date. But a miffed core of volunteers will be tracking its progress with intense interest.