British Finance Minister Gordon Brown is now assured of becoming the next prime minister after his only challenger for the Labour Party leadership dropped out of the race.
As of Wednesday, Brown received 307 nominations for party chief while left wing lawmaker John McDonnell had 29.
This makes it mathematically impossible for McDonnell to receive the required 45 nominations to stay in the race.
McDonnell said Wednesday he congratulates Gordon Brown.
Brown's aides say he will not comment until the nominating process officially ends Thursday.
Brown will be formally elected Labor Party leader during a party conference on June 24. Since Labor is the largest party in parliament, Queen Elizabeth II will ask Brown to form a new government, making him prime minister.
He will replace Tony Blair, who has announced he will resign June 27.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.