In order to get back into power Labour must regain the “really broad appeal in the 1990s and 2000s”. says Ilford North MP Wes Streeting.

Ilford Recorder: Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall is the Ilford MPs' pick.Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall is the Ilford MPs' pick. (Image: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Mr Streeting made the comments the same week ex Prime Minister Tony Blair entered the Labour leadership debate, saying anyone who supported Jeremy Corbyn should “get a heart transplant”.

The Ilford North Labour MP is backing Liz Kendall.

He told the Recorder: “She is asking the difficult questions that Labour needs to answer.

“She is warm and strong and understanding. She is serious about winning the next election.

“We are trying to look to the future and deal with the country as it is, not as we wish it to be.”

The MP for Leicester West, Ms Kendall, is seen by many as the Blairite candidate, something she denies.

Mr Streeting believes the shadow health secretary is “a strong leader we can believe in”.

He continued: “By having a really broad appeal in the 1990s and 2000s we won three elections in a row and we need to get back to doing that.

“One of the things for me I realised from going from Redbridge Council, which is run by Labour, to Westminster, is how futile being in opposition is.

“We can all rant and rave for people but we have got to regain trust and get back in power to help people in this country.”

Mike Gapes, MP for Ilford South, is also backing Ms Kendall.

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