Sir Keir Starmer is staring down a day of reckoning after the resignation of his right-hand man Morgan McSweeney.
The Prime Minister will today address Labour MPs, some of whom publicly attacked him last night, in a bid to cool widespread fury over the Lord Mandelson scandal.
If Sir Keir were to leave office, two names have emerged as the leading candidates to replace him: Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner.
On Sunday, MPs were revealed to be planning to lend staff to work on a leadership campaign by Mr Streeting to unseat the PM after the local elections.
One Labour MP told The Times: "I've already told my staff: 'If you want to take annual leave later in the year to go and work on Wes's leadership campaign, I’d be fully supportive of that.'"
Another added: "These conversations are already happening, because even though colleagues have accepted there won't be a change before May, they want Wes to be ready as soon as possible after."
Ms Rayner was then said to have reached out to HMRC to offer to hurry along their probe into her tax affairs amid fears it could get in the way of a potential leadership bid.
A Labour source told The Sun of how she was "holding court in the House of Commons tea room and talking openly about when they should get rid of Keir".
While a senior minister said: "I'm just devastated that now our Labour Party is associated with the world’s most infamous sex trafficking paedophile ring."
Another frontbencher said: "I don't think it’s fair to call it a sh**show. I've seen sh**shows before and this is much worse. A couple of weeks ago, I would have said Keir Starmer survives as PM despite all the U-turns. But now I think this really is the end. The only question is when."
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'He'll come out strong!' Labour MP defends predicts PM will stay in No10 ahead of crunch meeting
Labour MP John Slinger has told GB News that Sir Keir Starmer will "come out of this well" following the resignation of the Prime Minister's right-hand man Morgan McSweeney.
Mr Slinger said: "I think he will come out of it well. It's clearly been a very difficult time.
"It's been a difficult, not just a few days, but a difficult few weeks, but the Prime Minister, I am very confident, will come out of this strong and we're going to see that over the coming days."
The Rugby MP claimed he has received emails and spoken to voters who wanted to see Sir Keir remain as Prime Minister.
However, a recent YouGov poll suggested just 24 per cent of voters want Sir Keir to stay on, with 50 per cent supporting his resignation.
'Xi Jinping SPITTING in Keir Starmer's face!' - PM condemned after British activist jailed for 20 years in China's Hong Kong
Sir Keir Starmer will be waking up to another barrage of attacks today after British pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in a Hong Kong prison.
Mr Lai, 78, was jailed for so-called "national security offences" in the former British Crown Colony - after being arrested and charged during China's mass crackdown in 2020.
Sir Keir discussed the case with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month on a visit to Beijing.
But after Mr Lai's imprisonment, campaigners and China hawks have twisted the knife on the PM.
In a vicious attack on Britain's handling of the case, Luke de Pulford of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China added: "This is Xi spitting into Starmer's face - if the Beijing trip wasn’t humiliating enough" - a message re-shared by Sir Iain Duncan Smith on social media.
JUST IN: Sadiq Khan reveals his 'ultimate goal' is to REVERSE Brexit - 'We need Europe!'
Sir Sadiq Khan has said his "ultimate goal" is to reverse Brexit.
The Mayor of London revealed he eventually wants Britain to rejoin the EU, and believes it will happen within his lifetime.
In the meantime, he called for Britain to rejoin the single market and customs union - flying directly in the face of his party.
Sir Sadiq went onto brand Brexit "the biggest act of economic self-harm any country’s ever done"...
Team Rayner and Team Streeting both coy on leadership bid - even as MPs smell blood in the water
Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner's teams both denied any plotting was underway
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Last night, a spokesman for Wes Streeting claimed neither Wes nor his team "have asked anyone to not book leave or asked MPs to lend staff for a campaign".
They added: "Wes's entire focus has been on cutting waiting lists for the first time in 15 years, getting ambulances to arrive 15 minutes faster than last year and improving patient satisfaction with access to GPs."
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Angela Rayner denied a leadership challenge was underway.
"She will assist the HMRC inquiry in any way possible, will pay every penny she owes, and knows the inquiry will take as long as it takes," they added.
Labour MPs launch public rebellion in crisis for PM
Last night, multiple Labour MPs came out to publicly revolt against Sir Keir Starmer after Morgan McSweeney resigned.
Rachael Maskell said if he had not understood he needs to make the Labour Party "inclusive", he will find it "very difficult to continue".
The Labour MP told BBC Radio 4: "Let’s listen very carefully over the coming days to see that Keir Starmer has really understood how serious it is, the situation, what he has to do to build that inclusive party.
"And if he can achieve that, if he puts the agenda of inclusion, of building the confidence that he’s going to address those inequalities, not just in his party but across the country, then of course we will see where we get to.
"But if he cannot do that, if he hasn’t understood the seriousness of the situation, then I think he will find it very difficult to continue."
Scottish Labour MP Brian Leishman, meanwhile, unleashed a fiery broadside at his boss.
"There must be a change in political direction and that comes from the very top, so the Prime Minister must look at his own position and question whether he should follow McSweeney's lead one last time, and resign for the good of the country and the Labour Party," Mr Leishman said.
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