Surprise backing for Beckett in Labour leadership stakes: Donald Macintyre reports on how the likely candidates for John Smith's job are shaping up

MARGARET BECKETT, John Smith's deputy, received a strong surprise endorsement as a future Labour leader yesterday from Ken Livingstone, a prominent member of the left-wing Campaign Group.

Mrs Beckett, who on Wednesday who startled colleagues by declaring that her job as the party's deputy leader could be contested within the same July timetable as the leadership, is expected to consider whether to run in the light of her performance in the European election campaign.

But although Mr Livingstone's praise for Mrs Beckett identifies her as a serious potential candidate, it also threatens to typecast her as the choice of the far-left of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Mr Livingstone said Mrs Beckett would make an 'excellent' candidate for the leadership. But he also predicted on the BBC Today programme that the contest would in the end come down to a two-way fight between John Prescott, Margaret Beckett or Robin Cook

and Tony Blair or Gordon Brown.

Mr Brown, the shadow Chancellor, yesterday jokingly parried questions about the Labour leadership in terms which left him room to stand against his friend and rival Mr Blair.

Mr Brown, who is to make a second big speech this weekend, was implicitly dismissive of the NOP poll in yesterday's Independent showing Mr Blair easily the favourite among trade union levy- payers to succeed Mr Smith.

Mr Brown, in apparently good humour at Labour's European election news conference, joked: 'If we believed in opinion polls we would have had four different leaders of the Conservative Party.'

However, a MORI poll for the Times today confirms the Independent's findings showing Mr Blair well ahead of John Prescott in what might have been considered his power bases - among trade union members, and in the Midlands and the North. Among all Labour supporters, Mr Blair took 32 per cent, Mr Prescott 21 per cent, Mrs Beckett and Mr Brown 12 per cent each, and Mr Cook 7 per cent.

A poll in the Scotsman newspaper indicates that Mr Brown cannot automatically count on the backing of MPs in his Scottish power base. Only 15 of Scotland's 48 Labour MPs were unequivocally in favour of Mr Brown. Six others favoured Mr Blair outright and a further six said that, while they felt loyalty to Mr Brown, they hoped he would stand aside for Mr Blair. Five MPs supported Mr Prescott, three Mr Cook and one Mrs Beckett. Six others refused to disclose their intentions.