Birmingham City Council's under-fire leader Sir Albert Bore is facing more resignations in the coming days, according to Labour Party insiders.
Several sources say a number of senior councillors, including scrutiny committee chairmen Waseem Zaffar (East Handsworth and Lozells), Majid Mahmood (Hodge Hill) and Zafar Iqbal (South Yardley) and district committee chairman Ansar Ali Khan (Washwood Heath), are all considering taking action to prompt a leadership challenge.
And deputy leader Ian Ward, whose relationship with Sir Albert has become strained in recent months, is also rumoured to be considering his position.
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Coun Bore's leadership has been rocked following the and Labour group secretary Valerie Seabright in recent days. Both had previously been loyal to the leader.
The leadership is also braced for more bad news as the Government-appointed Birmingham Independent Improvement Panel is due to report to the Local Government Secretary Greg Clark next week.
They have been far from happy with the state of political leadership in Birmingham.
Now, backbenchers are waiting to see what deputy leader Ian Ward (Shard End), who returned to the crisis hit council from holiday over the weekend, will do.
One Labour councillor said: "It doesn't look good for Sir Albert at the moment, with Ian not offering immediate support."
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In fact, only three members out of eight, John Cotton (Shard End), Brigid Jones (Selly Oak) and Tahir Ali (Nechells) have given public backing to Sir Albert.
The Post has been told the remaining members are united in their support.
And despite Coun McKay (Harborne) launching a blistering attack on Sir Albert's leadership for lacking vision, saying he is not going anywhere and defending his record.
Coun Seabright (King Norton), who is the auntie of Labour Party deputy leader Tom Watson, resigned in fury over the fact that Coun McKay's replacement Shafique Shah (Bordesley Green) was appointed without consultation.
Although there has been much speculation, for Sir Albert it was very much business as usual as he was away in Brussels for a Committee of the Regions summit yesterday.
Sir Albert has previously been criticised for spending too much time on the continent but defended it as battling for Birmingham abroad.
As speculation grew over succession, the Labour group chief whip Mohammed Idrees (Washwood Heath) ordered Labour colleagues not to speak with the media - although only the most senior cabinet members seem to be sticking to the order.
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The city's 78 Labour councillors hold the power to back or remove their leader but are unable to reach a decision.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking towards government intervention.