As International Development Secretary Priti Patel returns early to the UK, the expectation is that she will be sacked by PM Theresa May for holding illegal meetings with Israeli ministers during a holiday earlier this year. This act of insubordination and utter contempt for her leader and her party is just one of a whole string of events that have taken place recently, causing many to question whether Mrs May actually has a true hold over her cabinet members.
Mrs May's snap election
Riding high in the polls and determined to do a good job negotiating the Brexit minefield, Theresa May took the gamble of calling a snap election in June that she only narrowly won.
The victory was so unconvincing that the Labour Party actually celebrated as if they had won. Mrs May admitted that she had "shed a tear" when the results of the election came in.
Since that time, things seem to have gone from bad to worse for the ailing PM and her party. Despite presenting herself as a "steady hand" on the tiller, she has proved to be anything but. Negotiations at Brexit have exposed her shortcomings as a decisive and strong leader and even during a speech to her own party the PM struggled with a cough, a faulty sign and being handed a fake P45.
The PM's cabinet
Only last week her Defence Secretary Michael Fallon resigned his post, saying that his behaviour has " fallen short" due to looming investigations over sexual harassment in Westminster.
The MP apologised for an incident some 15 years ago when he placed his hand on the knee of interviewer Julia Hartley-Brewer, although Hartley-Brewer insisted that "no-one was remotely upset or distressed."
To lose one senior MP is almost excusable but following swiftly on from that the PM has discovered that her deputy Damien Green is under investigation for alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a young activist and also claims that 'extreme' pornography has been found on his House of Commons computer.
Calls for his resignation have come from MPs in his own party. Until now, however, Green has clung on to his status.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson can generally be relied on to engage his mouth before thinking and this week he did not disappoint. There were already calls in the summer for May to remove him from his role as Foreign Secretary as it was thought he was behind a plot to oust the PM for his own gain, however, he too remained in post.
But this week he made a remark regarding a British woman imprisoned in Iran that she was there to teach journalists. The UK government has stepped in to say that they had 'no doubt' that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was on holiday when she was arrested. Mr Johnson was forced to make a speedy apology stating that his remarks were taken out of context.
What's next?
With problems springing up seemingly on a weekly basis, it is time, surely, for Mrs May to step in and show that she has the qualities necessary to lead her party into the next election. She must show decisiveness and clear-thinking by dismissing Mrs Patel if she is to gain the trust and respect of her party faithful. If she allows, what is quickly becoming a chaotic and disorganised circus, to continue then her role as leader of the Tory party will be shorter lived than anyone could have expected.
