OTTAWA - Brian Topp has added two more MPs to an impressive roster of supporters who've endorsed his candidacy for the NDP leadership.

Veteran New Brunswick MP Yvon Godin and rookie Quebec MP Alain Giguere are backing Topp's bid to succeed Jack Layton, who died of cancer last month.

Giguere says he believes Topp will be able to consolidate the party's gains in Quebec in the last election and break new ground in the rest of the country.

He says he's not convinced Topp's putative chief rival, Montreal MP Thomas Mulcair, would be able to win support outside his home province.

But Topp seems uncomfortable with such talk, taking pains to emphasize his respect for Mulcair and stressing his hope that other strong contenders will enter the race.

So far, only Topp and Quebec MP Romeo Saganash have formally declared their intention to seek the leadership.