He acknowledged the move would take some control away from the victor of the party’s leadership contest, to be announced on September 24.
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Mr Betts conceded at the PLP meeting that the reform “might put some pressure” on the victor of the leadership campaign but said the proposal was a “pragmatic response to the situation we find ourselves in”, according to a source.
Corbyn has not backed the idea, suggesting instead that the shadow cabinet could be chosen by Labour members, who are notably more supportive of him than the majority of the party’s MPs, who in June voted 172 to 40 that they had no confidence in his leadership.
MPs will vote on the suggestion tomorrow, with the result expected shortly after 5pm.
In a survey of more than 700 supporters of the Labour leader, 55 per cent said that it was either “definitely” or “probably” true that intelligence agencies are working to undermine Corbyn, who is likely to triumph in the party’s ongoing leadership contest.
Although three members of the original line-up have left in recent years, sparking a legal dispute over the use of the band’s name, the remaining members led by guitarist and vocalist Robin Campbell have endorsed Mr Corbyn.
MPs’ vote on who joined the top team was scrapped by Ed Miliband back in 2011.
As part of his arts manifesto released last month, Mr Corbyn pledged that all primary schools in England would get extra cash to fund arts activities and a single national scheme for arts scholarships would be set up.
Mr Corbyn, who is opposed by the majority of his MPs and lost a vote of no confidence after the European Union referendum, welcomed the band’s backing ahead of a planned joint appearance on Tuesday.
Deputy leader Tom Watson, who is preparing a bid to overturn Labour’s “one person one vote” system, has signalled support for shadow cabinet elections.
He said: “I do not see the need for this change”.
Pontypridd MP Mr Smith said he was ready to “look very carefully” at the reintroduction of measure, arguing that it could help create a “sense of shared ownership” of the shadow cabinet by all Labour MPs.
They add that when Mr Corbyn was elected as leader in the autumn of 2015 he attempted, at the time, to create a broad-based shadow cabinet with representation from all sides of the party.
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“Any review also needs to take account of the need to represent regions and nations”.
