Labour leadership contest: Yvette Cooper says back me 'or there'll be bloodshed'

Shadow home secretary writes that the party should not flail about or adopt the Tories' manifesto

Yvette Cooper has warned of the Labour party swinging towards the left or right in the upcoming leadership contest (Andrew Yates/ AFP)

Yvette Cooper has issued a strong warning against the Labour Party swinging to the right or left ahead of its leadership contest.

Taking the opportunity to attack her rivals for the Labour leadership, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall, Ms Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said some people mutter "that there needs to be blood on the floor," if the party was to rise again.

Mr Burnham, the shadow health secretary, is seen as the union’s favoured candidate to back in the leadership contest, while Ms Kendall has stronger links to the Blairite faction of the party.

She added that “acerbic critiques and the rapid washing of hands won’t make Labour win,” and emphasised that the alternative was not to “swallow the Tory manifesto” just to avoid the approach of the past five years.

Writing in a blog for the Huffington Post UK, Ms Cooper said: “The mountain we now have to climb is high. But there are some who mutter that we should give up.

“That there needs to be blood on the floor for the Labour Party to rise again. That we should swing our party far to the right or far to the left, then fight it out from first principles all over again.

“There is no comfort blanket for us either in Labour victories or Labour defeats of the past. The world has changed. Labour wins by having the best answers for the future.”

In an effort to boost her own credentials, Ms Cooper said that the Party should “call George Osborne’s bluff,” to offer Britain a greater form of devolution to the regions.

Liz Kendall was backed earlier this week by Tristram Hunt, the shadow education secretary, after he admitted that he did not have enough backing for his own campaign.