British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced down calls to resign today as he reshuffled the ministerial pack after last week's election weakened his Labour government.
Clare Short, Labour
Mr Blair won an unprecedented straight third term last week, but voters, whose trust in him was damaged by Iraq, more than halved his majority. His parliamentary majority fell at Thursday's vote to 67 from 161.
But political debate in Britain at the moment is being dominated by when Mr Blair will stand down.
"The whole story of the government is going to be 'when is he going,'" said Labour parliamentarian Clare Short, a frequent critic of Mr Blair who resigned from the cabinet over Iraq.
"There's a real danger the government looks divided, doesn't renew itself, we lose seats in local government elections and so on, and get weaker and weaker," she told BBC radio.
Mr Blair announced last year he would serve a full third term of four to five years but then would not stand again, a move that risks turning him into a lame duck, analysts say.
Forecasts for his departure range from months to two years, with powerful finance minister Gordon Brown waiting in the wings as Labour's heir apparent.
A poll in the right-leaning Daily Telegraphindicated 46 per cent of voters wanted Mr Blair out by this time next year.