Sir Keir Starmer has been warned by his own MPs that he is in "last-chance saloon" in the wake of his handling of the Lord Mandelson scandal.
The prime minister is expected, The TImes reports, to use Donald Trump's state visit this week to wrestle back control of the political narrative.
In his first public appearance since sacking Mandelson on Thursday, Starmer will today announce a landmark nuclear deal between the UK and US.
But there is continuing disquiet among Labour MPs regarding how much Starmer knew about Mandelson's relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
One minister told The Times the episode felt like a "death knell" for Starmer.
A senior backbencher told the newspaper his colleagues were already “canvassing” on behalf of potential leadership rivals.
Graham Stringer, a veteran Labour backbencher. told Times Radio that Starmer was “supping in the last-chance saloon”.
But a Times Downing Street source said the prime minister’s “sole focus” was on “practical policies that benefit working people”.