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Keir Starmer’s own Cabinet is turning against him in what could mark the beginning of the end of his time as Prime Minister. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden became the latest member to cast doubt on Sir Keir’s judgement, as he refused to back Sir Keir’s decision to sack top Foreign Office official Sir Olly Robbins.

Asked on Times Radio if the sacking felt fair, Mr McFadden would only say: “Look, it’s the Prime Minister’s judgment.” Sir Olly was removed from his post as the Prime Minister attempted to shift blame for the Peter Mandelson scandal. But other Cabinet Ministers have publicly suggested that the buck stops with Sir Keir.

On Tuesday, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said he had been “worried” about the decision to appoint Mandelson as the US ambassador, and confirmed that former Foreign Secretary David Lammy had felt the same way. Later that day, the current Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, criticised No 10’s apparent plan to give a diplomatic job to Sir Keir’s former communications chief, Matthew Doyle.

The comments from cabinet ministers mark a new phase in Labour’s civil war, as coded public criticism has previously been limited to people outside the cabinet, such as Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham or former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, currently a backbench MP.

The mood at a meeting of the Cabinet inside Number 10 was grim this week. The Financial Times reports one person briefed on the meeting said: “People had their heads down, looking at the desk. He was met in virtual silence.”

And there was little sign of support for Sir Keir among Labour MPs as he was questioned about Mandelson on Monday in the Commons. One Labour official compared it to the final days of ex-Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, telling the Financial Times: “We saw this before when Boris Johnson was reaching the end as prime minister — the same silence on the Tory benches.”

Ministers also fear that Sir Keir made a mistake by sacking Sir Olly and blaming a civil servant, according to the Times. It reports a Minister said Sir Keir had “picked the wrong fight”, adding “there was no way it was going to end well”.

Labour’s internal rules mean it is harder for the party to sack a sitting Prime Minister than it is for the Tories, and backbenchers believe the best way to force Sir Keir out would be for Cabinet Ministers to show they have no confidence in him by resigning. One MP told Politico: “Cabinet ministers will be judged in the future by their words and actions now.” However, there is no sign of imminent resignations.

Despite the anger at every level of the party, any move against Sir Keir, if it comes, would not be likely until after the local elections on May 7.