Andy Burnham is almost guaranteed to be the next prime minister of the United Kingdom after 322 Labour MPs nominated him to take over from Sir Keir Starmer.
The total means that there are only 81 Labour MPs left who could nominate another contender, the minimum needed to get on to the ballot.
But convention dictates that the outgoing leader does not nominate a candidate, meaning in reality there are no longer enough undeclared MPs to back an alternative to Mr Burnham.
The former Greater Manchester mayor secured the nominations – amounting to 80% of the parliamentary party – by 5pm on Thursday, the first day MPs could formally back a leadership candidate.
Even before nominations opened, Mr Burnham seemed almost certain to enjoy a coronation as Labour leader as the only declared candidate in the race to succeed Sir Keir.
But the size of his support in the parliamentary party means even a late challenger now has virtually no hope of securing the required nominations.
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