Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott appears to be in real trouble

Tony Abbott.

Serious rumblings have come from Australian Parliament insiders on Tuesday that a leadership spill is on the cards.

Following Prime Minister Tony Abbott's decision to knight
the Queen of England's husband Prince Philip on Jan. 26, his leadership
has been the centre of intense speculation among those in the know in
Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, where parliament is held.

On Tuesday, Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was forced to declare
she was not challenging the leadership of Abbott, despite many
Australian news publications reporting disenchantment with the
leadership of the coalition government.

“I am not campaigning for the job of prime minister, I am not ringing
the back bench asking for support, I am not counting any numbers,

I will not challenge the leader

I will not challenge the leader,” Bishop said in a statement.

Twitter lit up again late Tuesday here after it was reported that two
Liberal backbenchers had spoken out against the prime minister and were
in revolt against the current leadership.

Dennis Jensen was the first MP to publically announce he was standing against the prime minister. News.com.au reported that Jensen texted Tony Abbott to make it clear he was not happy with his leadership and said the leadership is “terminal."

“I told him that he no longer has my support,” a disgruntled Jensen said. "We can’t continue with Mr Abbott as leader.” He told ABC's 7:30 Report the prime minister has not had his support since three days before the knighting of Prince Philip.

"Very strong party members have written, spoken, texted me ... all saying they want a change of leadership," Jensen told ABC.

A second Abbott government backbencher, Mal Brough, said the
leadership issue "needs to be resolved and if Tuesday is the appropriate
time to talk about it and discuss it with the prime minister, then they
need to do so."

In contrast, the majority of MPs have not spoken out against Abbott
and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton begged his colleagues to not turn
against the leadership. He said the prime minister had admitted his
mistakes and now just needed time to improve on those indiscretions.

"He’s made mistakes, we’ve all made mistakes, and we’re listening to
colleagues, and, most importantly, to Australians,” Dutton told ABC’s 7:30 Report.
“He’s made it very clear he’s not going to stand down ... I want the
prime minister elected only 16 months ago to have a fair go.”

While, a spokesperson for Abbott told Fairfax Media he had not changed his position, despite the rumblings and he still believes that the removal of a prime minister is "madness."

The leadership speculation follows Abbott's National Press Club speech
during which he addressed his poor choice in deciding the knighthood of
Prince Philip and pulled his controversial Paid Parental Leave scheme.
By the Twitter flutter from political insiders, it seems it may have all
been too late for Abbott.

The intense speculation hit as an Essential poll by The Guardian showed

Abbott is seen as "arrogant, out of touch and erratic" by the Australian public.

Abbott is seen as "arrogant, out of touch and erratic" by
the Australian public. It also showed that Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
is inching up on Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull as the
public's choice to lead the government — with Bishop on 21% and Turnbull
attracting 24% of those surveyed. Tony Abbott sat on a mere 11%.

While Abbott had the people's vote just over a year and a half ago,
it seems some within the government have other plans. Whether he
survives the storm should be clearer after a party room
meeting next Tuesday, where a party vote may be called, and perhaps the
Australian public will know whether it is really D-Day for the man they
voted into power.