With the UK government resembling more and more a fifth series of The Thick of It, one can only imagine the conversations going on in the back rooms of Downing Street and Whitehall.
Keir Starmer is already struggling in the Department of Popularity, with 71% of the UK believing the prime minister is doing a bad job, as per a YouGov study.
Meanwhile, a petition to call an immediate general election passed a million signatures last December, further demonstrating much of the nation's discontent.
In the last 24 hours, two resignations of high-profile Labour party members have taken place with Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney and Director of Communications Tim Allan stepping down.
Meanwhile, previous rumours around Wes Streeting mounting a revolt arose last year.
So, with all this mind, we've picked out three people who we think would be the frontrunners to become the next prime minister if Keir Starmer does indeed find himself ousted.
A frontrunner purely because his name has been mentioned the most, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has a solid foundation to challenge from.
While Streeting has already denied a plan to challenge Starmer last year, he does seem to hold just enough approval to mount a challenge.
While not the favourite of the Labour Party, Streeting has a strong media presence and is the 10th most popular current Labour MP (down from 6th last year), as per YouGov data, although he lags behind fellow cabinet ministers Lisa Nandy, Hilary Benn and Ed Miliband.
If indeed Streeting does manage to mount a challenge, we could see Downing Street become Downing Streeting.
However, it is worth noting that, like many of Starmer's cabinet, he has ties with the sacked Peter Mandelson, potentially jeopardising a challenge.
A little known name until recent days, Al Carns has emerged as a realistic contender for the premiership.
Carns is currently MP for Selly Oak in Birmingham and is a popular local figure.
Reports from the Independent claim that Carns is a person Reform UK supposedly fears because of strong support in the business and third sectors as well as desires to scrap the Chagos Islands deal and take a tougher stance on immigration.
The Aberdeen-born politician was a Royal Marines colonel and has won the Military Cross.
He also served in Afghanistan.
An ally of Farage’s told the Independent: “We are keeping a close eye on Al Carns. He would be a nightmare for Reform UK. He would basically neutralise all Nigel’s attack lines with voters. Also he would come without any of the political baggage of others.”
All three have either served in this government's cabinet or currently are, and are close allies of Starmer.
In the scenario Starmer steps down, he may support one of his closer colleagues in running for the PM role.
Angela Rayner, while having to step down from her role as deputy PM over underpaying stamp duty, she remains the second most popular Labour politician as per YouGov.
Meanwhile Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood might be a feasible alternative purely because of less media attention than others.
At the same time, Home Secretary Mahmood has presented a harder line on immigration in recent months, potentially appealing to a different section of society and showing characteristics of a strong leader.
Despite her election to Deputy Leader of the Labour Party last year and speaking out against plans from the chancellor to raise income tax before the Autumn Budget, Powell remains a slight outsider.
While she is a popular figure, Powell is yet to reach the prominence of the main frontbenchers.
However, her defiant comments in response to Rachel Reeves' reported plan to increase income tax last year suggested Powell could be one to take on the status quo, a key quality in anyone who wants to seize power from within.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, she spoke about the party sticking to its guns on the manifesto pledges it ran on before the general election last year.
She said: "If we're to take the country with us then they've got to trust us.
"We want to make sure that ordinary working people are better off as a result of this Labour government and we're putting more money back into the pockets of ordinary working people," she said.
"That's what that manifesto commitment is all about. And that's what this Budget will be about I'm sure."
She added: "It's really important we stand by the promises that we were elected on and that we do what we said we would do."
Known as the 'King of the North' the current mayor of Greater Manchester is by far the most popular Labour politician currently.
However, an attempt to make his way into parliament was recently foiled by his own party, being blocked from running in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Although unlikely, if Starmer does fall, there could be a scenario where a Burnham ally steps down from their seat to force a by-election and allow Burnham into parliament.
This, however, would be long tedious.
This said, many would struggle to disagree that Burnham has done a great job in Manchester, helping it become the fastest-growing city in the UK outside of London.
YouGov has the 'metro-mayor' as the most liked Labour politician with a 34% positive opinion rate.
However, there remains one key issue with Burnham, he's not an MP, and, while it's not a legal requirement, it is generally accepted that a PM must also be an MP for obvious reasons such as partaking in PMQs.
In order for this to happen, Burnham would need to win a by-election which is possible, but would either require convenient timing, or a current MP to step down.
Burnham is known to have previously clashed with Starmer while his past comments have left the door firmly ajar.
Asked by the BBC in September about whether or not he would challenge for Labour Party leadership, Burnham said that it was "up to the party" to decide while adding "we need to get people back behind the Labour government".
While calls for change at Number 10 continue to grow, there certainly is an increasing sentiment that Keir Starmer's time as PM could be up.
Following the controversies around the Autumn Budget and now these resignations, the boat continues to be rocked while Starmer will be hoping there are no more icebergs lying in wait.
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9th February 2026
02:36pm GMT
Politics | Joe.co.uk
politics
