Two former British cabinet ministers have called for a secret ballot to decide if Prime Minister Gordon Brown should lead the Labour Party into an election due by June.
Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt wrote a letter a letter to Labour MPs saying that the leadership issue has to be sorted out 'once and for all'.
They said: 'Many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this question is affecting our political performance.
'We have therefore come to the conclusion that the only way to resolve this issue would be to allow every member to express their view in a secret ballot.'
The former ministers say they were acting alone and do not appear to be aligned with any potential candidate.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband is known to have his eyes on the party leadership.
However, he has been loyal to Mr Brown and is expected to wait until after the election for his move.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson has also been mentioned as a possible successor but he has said in the past that he is not interested in the party leadership.
Mr Brown has already seen off two rebellions since succeeding Tony Blair as prime minister in 2007.
