A hastily convened special delegates conference of the Progressive Labour Party is to be held to ratify controversial actions taken by its governing body last month, according to sources.

One person who spoke to The Royal Gazette today said the session on Monday was aimed at legitimising decisions taken by the central committee on August 24 which have led to a bitter internal split.

Another source said many members were “furious” that a special delegates conference would be held while legal proceedings about the August 24 decisions were ongoing.

The row blew up last month after David Burt, the party leader and Premier, put forward a proposal to stop people who publicly campaigned against the PLP in the past two general elections from automatically joining the party.

It is understood his addendum was agreed by the central committee, along with a proposal requiring people to have been party members for at least a year to be eligible to serve as delegates in the party leadership election next month.

Leadership contender Curtis Dickinson opposed the changes on the basis they went against the party’s constitution. His lawyer, Delroy Duncan KC, obtained an interim injunction to stop them going into effect in the Supreme Court last Friday.

A directions hearing on the matter is due to take place tomorrow.

The second source, a supporter of Mr Dickinson, claimed the party would be in contempt of court if it discussed the issues at the heart of the litigation at the special delegates conference.

However the first source said the motion planned for the conference did not touch on the membership changes at all, but rather on the process by which changes can be made to the party constitution.

The decision to hold a special delegates conference was said by both sources to have been agreed at a special central committee meeting last night at Alaska Hall.

Tempers ran high outside the meeting, with bystanders shouting loudly for Mr Dickinson, who was accompanied by wife Lisa, and former Cabinet minister Wayne Caines, to be allowed in.

Former finance minister Mr Dickinson, who is challenging economy and labour minister Jason Hayward for party leader, made it into the building but the sources said he did not get into the behind-closed-doors upstairs meeting.

The factionalised state of the PLP was further evidenced by social media posts being circulated yesterday.

One purports to show a WhatsApp message sent by party chairwoman Dawn Simmons to a member who had told her that some thought she should resign from her other role as chairwoman of the Sandys South Central branch.

The message features strong language but the Gazette has not been able to confirm it was sent by her.

Another WhatsApp message is a voice note said to be spoken by Pattie-Jean Jones, 70, who admitted threatening to shoot Ms Simmons on Tuesday in Magistrates’ Court.

The source, who supports Mr Dickinson and asked not to be named, said it was feared Mr Burt would hand-pick the special delegates, thereby “stacking the deck” to ensure the motion passes.

“People are furious. People have said this is bull crap.”

They added: “David has made this very messy. This is why this has become so inflamed because you are finally getting someone — Curtis Dickinson — who is prepared to stand up for the people, the members.”