After the party lost more than 300 councillors across England and control of 18 town halls, some backbenchers have urged the prime minister to step down.

One of them is former health secretary Frank Dobson who described yesterday's cabinet reshuffle as little more than 're-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic'.

'It's time for change. Real change. Not a 'managed transition' from Blair to Brown or an irrelevant cabinet reshuffle. That is no change at all,' he said.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Campaign Group, which represents 25 Labour MPs, said the reshuffles failed to address 'the crisis of confidence' among its membership.

Former local government minister Nick Raynsford last night told Channel 4: 'There is a very clear feeling growing in the party that we would like clarity.

'I think it is in the interests of the party that a timetable is set which allows the successor to have a good period of time to get the right team in place.

'If the greatest priority is to ensure the government focuses on delivering on its key priorities, and I believe it is, then I am afraid to say it is simply shuffling around a large number of ministers at an unprecedented number - particularly with John Reid moving I think into his eighth different ministerial appointment - it is not exactly the right way to get the result,' he observed.

Speaking earlier to the BBC, former minister Andrew Smith said: 'I think the sooner we see a timetable for the orderly transition which the prime minister has promised the better.

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