The Progressive Labour Party’s outgoing shadow finance minister, David Burt, is most likely positioning himself for the leadership in his resignation, according to a source close to the party.

With an election looming, the source said that the time would be now to make any last- minute move in preparation for taking the leadership from current leader Marc Bean.

The source told us: “It is probably an overall plan to move Marc Bean. An election could happen at any time within the next year — so if Burt has any aspirations, he has to start distancing himself from Marc to gain the support of those who early on made their case known that they wanted him removed.”

The source said that the loss of seven of the party’s shadow cabinet has left the Opposition in a weak position: “There are a number of people in caucus who have aspirations to be leader. I think the fact that Marc Bean lost seven of his shadow cabinet at one time leaves him in a greatly disadvantaged position so his choices are limited. “To fill any spot now would be difficult because some of the most experienced and best have withdrawn their support from him. He is in a really precarious position.

“I believe he will try and remove some of those people at the constituency level from actually even being candidates in the next election.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some more people quit.

“Once it starts to unfold and people do leave, people have to quickly make decisions as to where they want to stand.

“The numbers against Bean are growing.”

A meeting of the party’s central committee was called for 8pm yesterday at the PLP’s headquarters, and lasted well into the night.

Speaking on what was best for the party going forward, the source said: “It is reaching the point where that [Marc Bean stepping down] might have to be a consideration or they will just implode.

Historically that has happened. Every day that passes without him resigning makes it more difficult to get rid of him.

“The PLP has a history of brutal leadership challenges. In the past they challenged [Dame] Lois Browne-Evans when they went down to one seat in parliament, so historically that has been an issue, and historically they have taken too long to deal with it.

“[Dame] Jennifer Smith during the leadership battle stepped aside out of concern for the party and the future.

“When people refuse, that is going to be a major issue because supporters and members might support the leader — but if he doesn’t have the confidence and support of his caucus, then really he becomes ineffective.

“It is not a situation that brings out the confidence of the voter.

“He will either have to step down or the membership will have to look at their options and decide that maybe they need to remove him. He has to take one for the team.”

Asked whether the PLP voters would have confidence in a new leader taking the reins so close to the election, the source added: “That is one part of the question.

“But the other part is — are people prepared to support a team that doesn’t seem to be cohesive? Do we want leadership by a team that is not together?”