Sir Keir Starmer faces another day of questions over his future as Wes Streeting mulls whether to mount a challenge for the premiership.
The Health Secretary is believed to have told allies he is preparing to resign on Thursday and announce a bid for the top job after Labour descended into open division at the start of the week.
Efforts to lever Sir Keir out of Downing Street appeared to stall on Wednesday, with no further ministerial resignations or backbench calls for his resignation as Westminster turned its attention to the King’s Speech.
But the morning saw Labour’s trade union backers pull their support for Sir Keir, while Mr Streeting’s team failed to deny claims he was poised to quit.
If he mounts a challenge, Mr Streeting will need the support of 81 Labour MPs to begin a formal contest.
While some 87 MPs have so far publicly called for Sir Keir’s resignation, they are not united behind a single candidate to replace him.
Other figures regarded as potential challengers include former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Energy Secretary and former party leader Ed Miliband and armed forces minister Al Carns.
In an article for The New Statesman published on Thursday, former Royal Marines officer Mr Carns said: “We do not need more slogans, strategies, press releases or commissions. We need action.”
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has questioned whether any of the Prime Minister’s rivals can muster the necessary support to launch a contest.
Sir Keir himself is expected to fight any leadership challenge, and spent Wednesday afternoon meeting ministers and Labour MPs as he sought to avert a coup.
On Thursday, he will seek to wrest back control of the political agenda with the introduction of legislation overhauling social housing and the “right to buy”.
Ahead of the introduction of the Social Housing Renewal Bill, intended to boost the supply of council homes, Sir Keir said his Government was “taking responsibility, rebuilding social housing, and delivering the change people voted for”.
Meanwhile, the prospect of a return to Parliament for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham receded as more MPs declared they did not intend to give up their seats to allow him to contest a by-election.
Manchester MPs Afzal Khan and Jeff Smith had been rumoured in Westminster to be willing to make way for Mr Burnham.
But both men expressly denied to the Press Association that they were preparing to stand down.
