Labour leadership: Liz Kendall calls for probe into effect of change to voting rules

Contender wants the full breakdown of election results released to members

Liz Kendall is expected to come last in the leader vote (Getty)

The Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall has called for the publication of a full breakdown of election results so members could see the extent to which new election rules boosted Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign.

Unlike the 2010 leadership election, Labour is not currently planning to publish statistics showing how the vote splits between party members, affiliated union supporters and newly registered £3 supporters.

However in an interview with the website LabourList, Ms Kendall said it was vital that the party change its mind to ensure full transparency after the votes are counted next month.

“I’ve defended the reforms to our electoral process before I was a candidate and during this campaign,” she said.

“(But) I think members should get the breakdown of the result so that... we know how well the process has worked overall.”

Ms Kendall’s team suspect that the figures will show that Mr Corbyn would not have received as much support among a vote of full party-members only.

A breakdown published in 2010 revealed that Ed Miliband was elected leader despite losing to his brother in the Labour MPs and MEPs and party members’ sections. His support from the union block vote carried him over the line.

A spokeswoman for the party said it was considering Ms Kendall’s request but that no decision had been taken.

Meanwhile David Miliband became the latest former party grandee to warn of the dangers of a Corbyn victory. The former Foreign Secretary said that a Corbyn victory could result in a “one-governing-party state”.

“Given the collapse of the Lib Dems, the stakes now are very high indeed, not just for Labour but for the country,” he said.

“Get it wrong, and Britain could become a multiparty democracy with only one party that can win parliamentary majorities.”

Mr Miliband also dismissed Mr Corbyn’s “demand that Labour become an anti-austerity movement”.

“The alternative to Syriza/Corbyn is based on passionate reform, not angry defiance,” he said.