Sir Keir Starmer was warned that Angela Rayner could topple him as Labour leader at the height of a row over his reshuffle.
The prospect of a leadership challenge was relayed to Starmer and his team on Sunday by supporters of the deputy leader, sources familiar with the discussions have told The Times.
Divisions at the top of the Labour Party emerged over the weekend after Starmer moved to sack Rayner from her role as party chairwoman after disappointing election results.
She resisted the sacking, which led to hours of negotiations between her and Starmer over her role on Sunday. The talks prevented a planned shadow cabinet reshuffle from happening until late into the evening.
There were a lot of people encouraging her to