Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall has dismissed calls for her to withdraw from the contest and back another candidate to defeat Jeremy Corbyn. The Leicester West MP insisted she would 'fight for what I believe in until the very end' despite a YouGov poll placing her fourth and left-winger Jeremy Corbyn ahead.
The poll, conducted for The Times, suggested Mr Corbyn could receive 43% of first preference votes, ahead of Andy Burnham on 26%, Yvette Cooper on 20%, and Ms Kendall on 11%. Taking second preferences into account, the survey pointed to a 6% victory for Mr Corbyn.
Ms Kendall said a victory for Mr Corbyn would be a 'disaster', arguing that turning back to the politics of the 1980s and losing elections 'does nothing to help the people' the party wants to help. She added that she was the only candidate offering an alternative to the politics which lost Labour the last two elections.
Former minister Alan Milburn followed Tony Blair in warning against a victory for Mr Corbyn, telling the BBC that Labour would only win the next election if it occupied the centre ground. 'The alternative is that Labour lurches to the left. If it does that, frankly, it has a death wish,' he said.
Ms Cooper said Ms Kendall should 'certainly not' withdraw and 'leave it to the boys, just because of one poll'. Lord Mandelson warned that the Labour Party's existence as 'an electoral force' was at stake, while Labour MP Frank Field said the other candidates needed to 'up their game' to defeat Mr Corbyn.
