Labour leadership contest: Liz Kendall set to enter race after winning the backing of 35 MPs

23 have gone public, but her team says she has the required support

Labour leader contender Liz Kendall speaks at De Montfort University Leicester, where she made a pitch for party votes in the party's leadership contest (PA)

Liz Kendall can enter the Labour leadership race after winning the required backing of 35 MPs, her campaign team has said.

Although only 23 have gone public, her allies said they were leaving it to individual backers to reveal their support. The latest is Paul Flynn, a left-winger, who said Ms Kendall, seen as the Blairite candidate, would provide a “fresh start.”

He added: “Her roots are unambiguously working-class and her commitment to the century-long ideals of the party is absolute. She has intellectual depth, an enviable aplomb in dealing with the media and is powerfully combative in the political fray. Liz is not burdened by damaging baggage from past roles and she is not tainted by previous Labour Party divisions.”

Andy Burnham has won the public support of 37 MPs. Yvette Cooper has won public pledges from 32 but her team said a lot of others were backing her, adding that she was setting the agenda in the leadership campaign.