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A cabinet minister has warned that Harriet Harman's Equalities Bill will damage Labour at the next election.
Speaking at a Fabian Society event, communities secretary John Denham said the proposals concentrated on narrowing the class divide but were outdated and risked alienating 'middle England'.
Labour should "stop holding up egalitarianism as the ideal", Denham stated.
Although the communities secretary did not mention the Commons leader and equalities minister by name, the comments indicate unhappiness about elements of the Equality Bill currently passing through Parliament.
Denham told the audience: "We must confront the difficult truth: that this form of egalitarianism, the one that defines fairness solely in terms of society's response to those in greatest need, is badly out of step with popular sentiment.
"A rejection of inequality - both absolute, relative and of opportunity - is absolutely core to who we are.
"But we will be more successful - not just electorally but in challenging unacceptable inequality - if we adopt and own a different, more nuanced view of fairness and equality.
"If you are in the middle, you are more likely to be concerned about whether the top is doing better than you, than you are about the situation of those at the bottom."
He added: "The number of people who sign up to a traditional egalitarian view of society is simply too small to construct a strong, viable and inclusive electoral coalition.
"And the extent that those who do are older, more traditionally working class, suggests that this task will get harder not easier."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd
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