One of Gordon Brown's closest allies has challenged Labour heavyweights Charles Clarke and Alan Milburn to "put up" and stand for the party leadership.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain made his comments after the pair launched a website which they said was intended to debate the long term future of the party.
Many Westminster watchers saw the move as an attempt to draw out a Blairite challenger to take on Mr Brown when the Prime Minister steps down later this year.
Mr Hain, who is backing Mr Brown as well as mounting his own bid for the deputy leadership, said they should come out and make their intentions clear if they wanted to stop the Chancellor reaching No 10.
He told BBC1's Question Time programme: "It's my view that Gordon is the best person for the job,"
"If somebody, if Alan or Charles or anybody else, if they think they can do better then they should put up and then they should find the 44 Labour MPs that might put them on the ballot paper.
"If anybody really feels that Gordon isn't the best person to be party leader, then stand against him. I think he would find that is not a problem at all.
"They said that they want to create a debate about ideas. That's fine.
"If they, or anybody else, is trying to suggest that there is some kind of division between the different people and some kind of box that they want to put Gordon in which is an old Labour box going backwards then they couldn't be more wrong."
