Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell has said she had no intention of quitting the Government, as rumours swept round Westminster of possible resignations as part of a plot to oust Gordon Brown.
Ms Jowell was named on the website of the New Statesman magazine as the subject of rumours over a possible resignation.
But the Olympics minister said: "This story is complete and utter rubbish and I have no intention of resigning."
As MPs returned from their Christmas break, rumours spread around Westminster tea rooms about a possible plot to remove Mr Brown as Labour leader ahead of the general election in order to allow an alternative leader time to cut into the Conservatives' double-digit opinion poll lead.
After open calls for the PM's removal from anti-Brownite MPs Charles Clarke, Barry Sheerman and Greg Pope over Christmas, there were rumours that disgruntled Labour backbenchers had contacted sympathetic ministers to ask them to resign in the hope of forcing a change at the top.
Sources within Downing Street dismissed talk of a plot as "nonsense".
But the supposed plot was discussed on Channel 4 News and formed the subject of furious discussion on Westminster blogs and the micro-blogging site Twitter until Ms Jowell was named by the New Statesman - which immediately went on to say she had assured No 10 that she was staying.
