Miliband signals end of New Labour 'technocracy' era

The Doncaster North MP will claim the former Government, of which he was a member, was "too technocratic and managerial" and he will pledge to guide the party into a new political era.

Mr Miliband is one of the front runners for the contest, being led by his brother David, and the pair are comfortably ahead of rivals Diane Abbott, Andy Burnham and Morley and Outwood MP Ed Balls.

He is expected to tell a Leeds audience: "It's time to turn the page from Blair and Brown – all the candidates believe that.

"But the question is who can really move us on from a politics that was too technocratic and managerial and stopped inspiring, to one rooted in our values, more optimistic about the change we can make happen.

"And from a culture in our party that stifled dissent and debate to one that really builds a movement that can win people to us head and heart. I am standing because I believe I am the best candidate who can turn the page and start a new chapter."

The leadership contest will be fought by five MPs after John McDonnell withdrew. He had been forced to apologise after he told trade unionists on Monday he wished he could go back to the 1980s and assassinate Margaret Thatcher.

His withdrawal prompted a surge of votes for left-wing firebrand Diane Abbott who reached the necessary 33 nominations alongside Mr Burnham and Mr Balls, while David Miliband amassed 81 and Ed Miliband 63.

Voting will take place through September and the successful candidate will be announced before the party's annual conference on September 25.

The successor to Gordon Brown will be chosen by an electoral college system in which three sections, MPs and MEPs, affiliated organisations including trade unions, and party members, each wield one-third of the vote.

Voters will rank candidates in numerical order on ballot papers, with a "transferable eliminating" system used to redistribute votes until one contender has more than 50 per cent support.

Labour is hoping interest in the leadership contest will spark a surge in membership applications, with anyone joining the party before September 8 entitled to vote.

Ed Miliband said that, whoever wins, the other candidates would be willing to serve under them – and made clear this includes his elder brother David. He said it had been a "tough decision" to stand against his brother.