Liz Kendall defiant on Labour leadership race despite falling behind rivals

Updated

Labour leadership hopeful Liz Kendall insists she has no intention of stepping aside as the race to succeed Ed Miliband continues to heat up.

According to a recent poll, Ms Kendall is lagging far behind frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn as well as fellow rivals Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper.

But the shadow minister for care and older people sounded defiant as she met party supporters in Cardiff today - and vowed she would be a credible leader Labour who could defeat the Tories.

She also told supporters not to feel intimated to vote for her - amid claims Labour councillors have been threatened with de-selection if they opted for Ms Kendall.

She said: "Is there plenty of fight left in my campaign? Oh god, yes.

"You should never stop fighting for what you believe in.

"Everywhere I go, I find Labour party members who are desperate for a credible leader, who can fight back against the Tories and win.

"And I will continue making that case to the very end."

The emergence of left-wing Mr Cobyn as the favourite to lead Labour has led to some bitter exchanges between opposing wings of the party.

Earlier this week, former prime minister Tony Blair said Labour risked "annihilation" at the next election if Mr Corbyn became its next leader.

Ms Kendall turned the screw further adding the 66-year-old did not have the right policies to take the party further - branding his ideas as being "in the 1980s".

She added: "We need to think about how we create more manufacturing, clean energy jobs and back our IT and creative industries - not talking about renationalising large swathes of the economy or reopening the pits."

Ms Kendall said she believed she would be the Labour leader who Tories feared the most and described herself as a "tough cookie".

The 44-year-old Leicester West MP also refuted suggestions that fierce debate during the leadership contest could lead to a split in the Labour party.

Addressing around two dozen supporters at Cardiff tea room Waterloo Gardens she said: "There will be no split regardless of the result......I would never leave this party than I would leave my own family."

Advertisement