BRITAIN: British prime minister Tony Blair will seek to calm a fractious Labour Party when he meets his MPs tomorrow for the first time since winning a historic third election victory while seeing his Commons majority slashed.
While senior ministers continued to rally behind Mr Blair yesterday, there were continuing backbench calls for him to quit, with one MP suggesting a possible leadership challenge in the autumn.
Such calls were branded "treacherous" and "unforgivable" by former minister Frank Field.
Meanwhile, the list of possible contenders for the Conservative leadership continues to grow following the resignation of two members of Michael Howard's shadow cabinet.
Mr Howard greeted his newly- elected MPs at Westminster, saying they were "brimming with talent" that would help the Conservatives into government at the next election.
His party, meanwhile, was brimming only with speculation as to who would seek to succeed him, and how far the Tories need to change to extend a support base stubbornly stuck at one-third of the electorate.
Tim Yeo and Nicholas Soames quit their posts, saying they wanted to free themselves to play a role in the debate about the party's future after a third successive defeat. Mr Soames dismissed suggestions that he might seek the leadership as "stupid", while Mr Yeo's announcement was seen as just a little short of a formal declaration of his candidacy.
With many cast in dismay at Mr Howard's decision to resign immediately, and the party facing months of wrangling over new rules for a leadership contest, former leadership contender Michael Ancram declined to comment on suggestions that he too was planning to leave the front bench.
The party's co-chairman Dr Liam Fox is likely to signal his ambitions with a speech today on Tory values, while newly re-elected Sir Malcolm Rikfind is considered certain to enter the fray.
Twice defeated leadership candidate John Redwood refused to say if he would make a third bid, while former chancellor Kenneth Clarke might enter the race. The early favourite remains shadow home secretary David Davis.
Mr Blair was last night completing his list of appointments to the middle and lower ministerial ranks of his third-term administration after an awkward cabinet reshuffle was attended by a series of damaging leaks, suggesting some erosion already in the prime minister's authority.
Mr Blair was reportedly angry at the leaks about ministerial resistance to his plans, while rebellious backbenchers continued calls for him to make clear his intention to quit Number 10 sooner rather than later.
While former minister Clare Short joined the list of "usual suspects" demanding a timetable for an orderly leadership succession, another former minister, Frank Field, said it would be "treacherous" for Labour MPs to try to "tear up the agreement" made with voters last week.
Foreign secretary Jack Straw, who retained his post after earlier indications that he might be moved, also issued a powerful rallying call to MPs, describing Mr Blair as "a genius" who had been Labour's electoral "salvation".
As John Austin, MP for Erith and Thamesmead, raised the prospect of a "stalking horse" challenge to Mr Blair's leadership, Mr Straw was reminding his parliamentary colleagues of their debt to the man who last week equalled Margaret Thatcher's election-winning record.
Speaking on the BBC, he said: "Tony Blair was the salvation of the Labour Party. Tony Blair was and is a genius in turning the Labour Party around." And while it was true that Mr Blair was less popular than five years ago, Mr Straw said he would remind colleagues that "was bound to happen".
Former ministers Robin Cook and Frank Dobson lead the roll-call of those demanding that Mr Blair confide his future intentions to the party.
Although Ms Short predictably joined the chorus, saying it would be best for the party if Mr Blair announced soon that he was leaving, she admitted: "I do not think he'll do it."
In that event, Mr Austin said Labour could see the return of the "stalking horse" strategy used with such devastating effect to undermine Mrs Thatcher in her third term.
Asked if he was prepared to fulfil that role, Mr Austin said he thought there were "more plausible candidates".
However, Mr Field, whose own ministerial career ended in frustration with Mr Blair, said Labour fought the election with a manifesto and a leader who said he would serve up to four years.
"I find it inconceivable that people who stood on that ticket now think they have a right to try and dismiss the prime minister."