Potential leadership rivals to Britain's Brown

UNDATED, May 10 (Reuters) British finance minister Gordon Brown is clear favourite to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair when he steps down after a decade in office.

Potential heavyweight rivals have dropped out of the race. Brown is only likely to face one opponent from the left of the party and is not in any real danger of losing the contest.

Following is a list of leadership candidates: GORDON BROWN, 56 Finance minister since Labour came to power in 1997. The Scot has been waiting to succeed Blair for years. He has a fierce intellect and is backed by a strong record on the economy but Labour parliamentarians fear he lacks charisma. He has tried to soften his image by talking about the joys of fatherhood. He is expected to launch his leadership campaign tomorrow.

JOHN MCDONNELL, 55 Left-wing Labour parliamentarian McDonnell has a certain popularity with trade unionists. He is determined to run but he may struggle to win the nominations of 45 Labour lawmakers, including himself, to get on the ballot.

MICHAEL MEACHER, 67 Former environment minister and veteran left-winger. Meacher stood for the deputy leadership in 1983 against Roy Hattersley but was convincingly defeated. He has declared he is running but it remains to be seen if he will win enough nominations.

* Meacher and McDonnell have said they will announce today (2030 hrs IST) which of the two has the most parliamentary support to challenge Brown. The other will drop out.

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