Tony Blair's cabinet allies yesterday rounded on backbench dissidents threatening to disrupt the government programme, warning that they had been elected on the party manifesto and will ruin Labour's third term if they use every piece of contentious legislation as a chance to rebel.

The warning came amid calls for Mr Blair to stand aside before the local government elections next spring, but there is no sign that the chancellor, Gordon Brown, is fuelling the demands.

Such calls were led yesterday by the former foreign secretary Robin Cook and the former health secretary Frank Dobson. Mr Cook said the task ahead was to see off the Liberal Democrat challenge, not to crush a Conservative party that is already on its knees. Short-term tensions focused on whether Andrew Adonis, the No 10 education policy adviser, is given a post as schools minister with a seat in the Lords.

Mr Blair will start his reshuffle of the ministerial ranks outside cabinet today with expectations that John Denham, a rebel on Iraq, will be asked to return to government.

Mr Blair will set out his plans for the Queen's speech in a speech tomorrow before addressing Labour MPs.

The prime minister's aides, and some cabinet ministers, promised that he would tell MPs that he recognises he needs to work more closely with them on policy.

He is also expected to acknowledge that his decisions on Iraq lost the party many votes, but will stress that the party must not ignore the loss of one-time Thatcherite seats in the south-east because of the asylum issue.

However, there is scepticism within the cabinet that Mr Blair is capable of a consensual style after a decade of defining himself against his party.

David Blunkett, returning to the government's top ranks as work and pensions secretary, led the counter-attack, branding critics as "self indulgent". He said those saying the prime minister should go after his majority was slashed were trying to "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory".

He said pointedly that all Labour MPs "were elected on our manifesto with absolute clear commitments."

He added: "We now, all of us, have to build that confidence behind our prime minister, who after all not only got a historic third term but got the kind of majority in that third term that we expected in 1997".

The culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, who is likely to be given additional responsibility as minister for women, also appealed to Labour MPs to focus on policy and not on leadership intrigue.

"I think the risk is that we will squander a third term, and it will become a third term dominated by media headlines that focus on personality," she said.

The Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Hain, said: "The idea that people suddenly want to have his head on a plate within hours of winning this historic third term of office and consigning the Tories to a terrible result and a third successive defeat - the idea that would be welcome by the public I just think is fantasy."

Alastair Campbell, the former director of communications, said: "People really underestimate Tony as a politician and as a political figure.

"The idea that he sits there in some sort of lonely den thinking 'where are my friends' - he has been dominant in British politics for a decade."

The fear in Labour high command is that Mr Blair's majority of 66 will be under perpetual challenge by a changing array of disaffected backbenchers. But there is also a swath of backbenchers who believe Mr Blair will never recover his former popularity and will have to go within two years.

Nuclear power, council tax, identity cards, incapacity benefit and pensions reform all provide potential flashpoints.

The Campaign group of Labour MPs claimed they were stronger than ever after "surviving the New Labour-inspired slump better than other comrades". The swing against them averaged 4.4%, compared with 5.1% against other sitting Labour MPs.

John McDonnell, chairman of the group, said he was convening an assembly of representatives in the parliamentary party, the National Executive Committee, constituency parties and trade unions to plan its strategy "in the new situation facing the government of a significantly reduced majority".

One decision will be whether to challenge Mr Blair's leadership at the party conference this autumn.