Lacklustre Labour told to up their game

Labour’s lacklustre Cabinet team have been warned they all need to up their game — not just Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.

Backbenchers put the party’s leadership on notice of change as they absorbed the shock of collapsing to a humiliating fifth place in the Meath East by-election.

As Mr Gilmore refused to concede his leadership is now under threat after the near wipe-out of the Labour vote in the Dáil showdown, tensions in the party burst into the open as all five Cabinet ministers were warned to sharpen up their game.