Home Secretary Alan Johnson has moved to head off speculation about a fresh bid to oust Gordon Brown from the Labour leadership.
Mr Johnson, often touted as a possible replacement for the Prime Minister, insisted the party had to show "unity" or face defeat at the hands of the Tories.
"I believe we have the absolute best leader of our party. There is no-one else who can do the job as well as Gordon Brown has done," he told BBC1's Politics Show.
"We cannot as a team stand in the middle of the pitch deciding who our captain should be while the other team runs rings around us.
"We have to unite behind our party, we have to defend our record, we have to explain our vision, we have to display our unity."
The intervention came as Labour gears up for a potentially torrid party conference later this month, following a damaging spell for Mr Brown where he has faced heavy criticism over Libya and his handling of the public spending row with the Conservatives.
Other senior Government figures also rallied around the PM, with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband insisting he was "very clear" that Labour had the right leader.
"He is not going to stand aside," he told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show.
City minister Lord Myners told Sky News' Sunday Live: "Gordon has shown enormous strength during a period of quite extreme global pressure.
"He has the full support of his cabinet and ministers and will lead us to election victory."
