Leadership Contest: Balls wants a listening Labour

The Morley and Outwood MP said Labour had failed to show sufficiently the party was in touch with voters and listening to what they had to say before the General Election.

With Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham expected to announce he intends to stand today, Mr Balls said as he met voters and party activists in Nottinghamshire that the party needed to be ready for when the coalition Government "falls apart".

Mr Burnham will become the fifth person seeking the 33 nominations from MPs to stand for leader, with Left-winger John McDonnell yesterday joining Mr Balls, Shadow Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his brother Ed, Shadow Energy Secretary and MP for Doncaster North, in the race.

Mr Balls said he had informed his old ally Gordon Brown of his plan to stand although the former Prime Minister has vowed to remain neutral in the contest.

Among his supporters are Shadow Housing Minister John Healey, MP for Wentworth, and several Ministers who worked under him as Schools Secretary including Hull North MP Diana Johnson.

Speaking at a SureStart centre, Mr Balls said: "It's really important that we don't just talk to ourselves. We have got to hear what the public have got to say."