A bid to oust Keir Starmer would be unprecedented for Labour and risk repeating Tory mistakes
Speculation about the future of Keir Starmer's leadership of the Labour party looks set to continue until next year's elections for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd and English councils, and beyond.
A few months ago, before the Labour conference, it all centred on a potential challenge by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, but that seemed to fizzle out.
Now the focus is on the ambitions of Health Secretary Wes Streeting, with mention, too, of former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, currently on the backbenches but universally tipped to return to the top table, and sometimes the current media favourite, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
Amid plots and rumours of plots in 1969, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson skilfully reasserted his position by telling a May Day rally: "I know what's going on" then pausing, before adding: "I'm going on."
There's no doubt there are talented politicians in the current government with aspirations to be in Number Ten - that's normal and healthy, but it doesn't necessarily point to an imminent internal coup.
Any attempt to oust Keir Starmer from the premiership would be unprecedented for the Labour party. No Labour prime minister has ever been formally challenged for the leadership while in office, far less toppled.
Only twice have Labour leaders faced a contest - Neil Kinnock comfortably saw off a challenge from Tony Benn in 1988; and Jeremy Corbyn defeated Owen Smith in 2016. But the party was in opposition on both occasions.
Getting rid of a prime minister, however poor their poll ratings at the time, is a much more serious business.
And despite the inevitable internal tensions which all parties have, Labour has not shown the same ruthlessness in disposing of leaders which the Conservatives have repeatedly displayed.
The Tories’ chaotic succession of prime ministers - from David Cameron to Theresa May, then Boris Johnson, replaced briefly by Liz Truss and finally Rishi Sunak - ended with the party’s decisive defeat at the ballot box.
But it has left the public and pundits alike with the idea that when governments run into trouble the answer is to throw the prime minister overboard. In this, as in many other areas, it would be wiser for Labour to learn from the Tories’ mistakes, not follow their example.