Labour leadership hopeful Liz Kendall has won the backing of former bookies' favourite Chuka Umunna.
The shadow business secretary said Ms Kendall was the candidate who could move the party "beyond our comfort zone".
The endorsement from Mr Umunna - who dramatically withdrew from the contest earlier this month - came in an article for the New Statesman.
In a joint article with his ex-campaign team, he said Labour needed to tell a "credible national story of a country proud of its history and confident of owning the future".
"A vision of a Britain in which all can get on, whose citizens are financially secure and in control of their lives and happiness - and are, collectively, secure and effective in the wider world," he went on.
"For us, our next leader must get this vision right. On all these big subjects, Liz Kendall has asked the tough questions and started to chart a course to the answers. She has been courageous in challenging conventional wisdom.
"She has no compunction in moving Labour beyond our comfort zone and is determined to build a team ready to chart a route forward."
Ms Kendall's chances of gaining the 35 MP nominations needed to feature on the ballot have been boosted by a series of endorsements over the past week.
The shadow health minister has received backing from education spokesman Tristram Hunt, who had considered running himself, and shadow Northern Ireland secretary Ivan Lewis, among others. She can now add Mr Umunna, Emma Reynolds, Stephen Twigg and Jonathan Reynolds to her tally.
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham, widely regarded as the frontrunner, and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper are both expected to secure well over the required 35 nominations.
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