British Prime Minister Tony Blair rejected calls to resign as he reshuffled his ministerial pack after last week's election weakened the Labour government.
Mr Blair won an unprecedented third consecutive term for the Labour Party last week, but voters whose trust in him was damaged by the war in Iraq more than halved his majority.
"The whole story of the government is going to be 'when is he going'," said Labour parliamentarian Clare Short, a frequent thorn in Mr Blair's side 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. His parliamentary majority fell at Thursday's vote to 67 from 161.
Forecasts for his departure range from months to two years. Chancellor Gordon Brown is 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.
Amid the speculation, Mr Blair announced junior ministerial appointments in what was widely seen as a balanced shake-up which brought a range of people from different wings of Labour into government.