There is now a real chance the Prime Minister will face a leadership challenge before the year is out - and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is the likely challenger.

Mr Dutton tweeted his support for Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday but that did not stop backbenchers from calling him to urge that he force a spill.

9NEWS has confirmed Mr Dutton has told colleagues he is contemplating a challenge but wants to hear the details of the Prime Minister’s recast energy plan and see how it plays with Coalition MPs before making a decision.

Peter Dutton has told colleagues he's contemplating a leadership challenge. (AAP)

Mr Dutton's supporters admit Mr Turnbull has a clear majority in the Liberal party room but one minister said: "It's hard to know what your level of support is until you fire the gun".

Asked why the party would contemplate another damaging leadership battle he replied, "We are going off a cliff under Turnbull".

Another senior Liberal said: "I think Malcolm Turnbull is terminal and will be very surprised if he is still leader by the end of the year".

Other cabinet ministers say the only thing a leadership challenge will do is ensure the Coalition’s electoral annihilation.

"Peter Dutton is one of the most unpopular people in government," a Turnbull supporter said. "It would be electoral suicide to have him as leader."

9NEWS has canvassed widely on the Liberal Party front and backbench and the mood spans from a determination to challenge among some, a defiance to resist among the majority and despair at the possibility of yet another leadership struggle by most.

One minister pointed out it has been 11 years since a Prime Minister contested the next election after winning one.

Turnbull's days as Prime Minister could be numbered. (AAP)

Mr Dutton wants to see if Mr Turnbull's recast energy plan is more popular with Coalition MPs. (AAP)

The Turnbull camp dismisses talk of an impending rebellion as just the bitter residue of the 2014 leadership spill which toppled Tony Abbott.

But it is clear the disquiet is broader and more than one minister has been recruited to the cause.

In the view of the rebels, the problems with the Prime Minister go beyond the argument over the National Energy Guarantee. The Queenslanders believe they have lost their base because Mr Turnbull’s values are out of step with their conservative supporters.

One senior Liberal summed it up as: "He's just not one of us".

Turnbull loyalists are enraged by talk of a coup.

"How is it in any way conservative to treat the office of Prime Minister as a plaything?" a cabinet minister said. "It is embarrassing. I can’t believe we have taken the Labor playbook and are running it again."

He and other ministers agreed the only thing certain was that this latest show of disunity was the last nail in the coffin of the Coalition Government.

One minister described Mr Turnbull as "terminal". (AAP)

"The next Prime Minister will be Bill Shorten," one said.

But there are other guilty parties in the eyes of many in the Turnbull camp; chief among them the conservative media.

Many raised the bare-knuckled attacks on the Prime Minister led by Sky News commentators, The Australian and the Daily Telegraph .

"News Corp is gunning for Malcolm," one cabinet minister said.

They also included Sydney radio station 2GB's morning line-up of Alan Jones and Ray Hadley among those determined to see the Turnbull Government fall.

One minster hoped the moment of madness would pass.