Brown rival faces race for support

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John McDonnell must find another 18 nominations from Labour MPs by lunchtime on Thursday to ensure his name is on the ballot paper.

His failure to secure enough support will leave Mr Brown with no opponent in the leadership contest before the hustings and voting have even got under way.

It emerged on Tuesday night that 282 of Labour's 354 MPs had nominated the Chancellor for the Labour leadership.

Mr McDonnell, chairman of the socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs, boasted the nominations of just 27 MPs, the first official indication of support showed.

Nominations opened on Monday afternoon and will close at 12.30pm on Thursday. There will be updates on the state of play on Wednesday.

But with only 45 Labour MPs left to nominate candidates, senior party figures doubt that Mr McDonnell will find enough support to keep his hopes alive.

Mr McDonnell, who was given a clear run from the left of the party when Michael Meacher dropped out on Monday, insisted that his nominations represented "really good progress".

He said: "It's not even half-time yet and we're over half-way in terms of nominations with some MPs out of the country and others finalising their position. This confirms that we're well on course for getting on the ballot paper and with this momentum we should make it."

In the deputy leadership contest, Education Secretary Alan Johnson took an early lead with 64 nominations, followed by Justice Minister Harriet Harman with 60. Both are assured of a place on the ballot paper along with Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, who has 49 nominations, and party chairwoman Hazel Blears, with 48.