NT deputy resigns, pressure on Mills THE leadership of Northern Territory Chief Minister Terry Mills may again be under a cloud, following the resignation of his deputy. Mr Mills, who came to office last August in a landslide, has been under pressure after his party polled badly in a recent by-election. There has been criticism of the Country Liberal Party's (CLP) decision to raise power prices by 30 per cent, and to commit to spending cutbacks, which the party said were needed to slash debt. On Tuesday in a short statement, Robyn Lambley, who is Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer and Education Minister among other portfolios, announced she was resigning her post as deputy. "The government has made a number of extremely tough but necessary decisions since taking office in August," Mrs Lambley said. She said the steps the government had taken towards rolling back the NT's debt had been unpopular. It is not certain whether she will also resign from her ministerial responsibilities. With a vote called for 8.30am (CST) Tuesday to determine who will take over as deputy, a senior member of the CLP said they expected a leadership spill for the top job as well. AAP spoke with several senior sources in the party on Tuesday night, with one saying they expected a challenge on Wednesday morning to Mr Mills, and others saying such speculation was wrong and that number crunching was not underway. Last month Attorney-General John Elferink abandoned a leadership challenge after he realised he didn't have the numbers to topple Mr Mills. At the time it was thought Mr Elferink came close to securing enough votes from the party's 16 parliamentary members to take the leadership. AAP understands Mr Elferink is not behind any fresh leadership speculation and has not considered making another challenge. Another CLP source said they understood Health Minister David Tollner would issue a formal challenge. Mr Tollner could not immediately be contacted to respond to the speculation.