Several Labour MPs have called on the British prime minister Tony Blair to step down long before he completes a full third term in Downing Street.
Speculation has been mounting that Mr Blair would come under pressure to leave his post since Thursday's general election significantly-reduced Labour's Commons majority, from 161 to a projected 66.
Labour left-winger Jeremy Corbyn, the MP for Islington North, predicted that Mr Blair - who has said he intends to serve one more full term - could be out of Downing Street within a year. Mr Corbyn said: "The idea that we're going to go for several years with a prime minister who's said he's going to resign at some point is really not acceptable.
"I think he might well decide that the end of the G8 presidency is the time to go. I don't think he would want to go in the middle of it."
Britain's one year presidency of the G8 group of major industrialised countries will conclude at the end of 2005. Mr Corbyn's stance - he has been a fierce critic of the Iraq war - was predictable. But he was far from a lone voice. John Austin, the MP for Erith and Thamesmead, told The Sunday Times: "He (Mr Blair) was a liability and not an asset in this election. You can't beat about the bush. Blair was a negative factor on the doorstep, time and time and time again. "
A number of other Labour MPs also said that Mr Blair should step down sooner rather than later. Christine McCafferty, the Calder Valley MP, said: "My take on it is that within a year the Prime Minister will stand down. I would like to see the process take place, but we have just had the election so we need a pause for breath."
However, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said she hoped that that speculation about Mr Blair's future would die down quickly. She told Sky News: "We will very quickly squander a third term if we speculate endlessly about the leadership of the Government. The Prime Minister is the Prime Minister, he has made as clear as he could possibly make it that he intends to serve for a full third term.
"Our job now from the Prime Minister onwards is to make sure that we get our shoulders to the wheel ..."
A Downing Street spokesman declined to comment on the reports, other than to point to Mr Blair's statement of last September in which he said that if re-elected he would serve a full third term. "There has been no change," said the spokesman.
PA