Chuka Umunna or Liz Kendall: Poll - who do you want to be the next Labour leader?
Only Liz Kendall has formally declared she will run but Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Chuka Umunna and David Miliband are rumoured to be considering it
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Your support makes all the difference.Liz Kendall has fired the starting gun in the Labour leadership race by becoming the first MP to declare she will stand.
But the Blairite MP for Leicester West could face competition from at least four others.
Chuka Umunna, Tristram Hunt, Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham are among those believed to be in the running after two rumoured contenders publicly pulled out.
Stella Creasy, Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband's brother, David, may also be considering putting themselves forward.
Dan Jarvis, a former Army paratrooper who gave up his military career to become an MP in 2011, was seen as ideally placed to give Labour a fresh start but said it was the wrong time for his family.
The MP for Barnsley Central said that while he wanted to be part of the “rebuilding process”, he could not take the top job.
“I'm ready to serve in that rebuilding process as part of the Labour team,” he wrote in The Times.
“But I can't do that as leader at this moment and I won't be putting my name forward in the coming leadership contest.
“My eldest kids had a very tough time when they lost their mum and I don't want them to lose their dad. I need some space for them, my wife and our youngest child right now, and I wouldn't have it as leader.”
David Lammy, seen as an outsider in the potential contest, ruled himself out in an interview with the Evening Standard.
The Tottenham MP said he felt his strengths were more suited to the South, where the general election result showed his party is failing to appeal to voters.
“Labour has to broaden its appeal,” he added. “It has to select a leader that does not just speak to the Labour tribe, but also speaks beyond and into the country.”
Mr Umunna has said he would “play the fullest part I can” in rebuilding Labour, while Mr Hunt said he is “definitely thinking about” running.
Harriet Harman will be acting Labour leader until elections held later this year. The date has not been set but the new leader will be in place in time for the party conference in September.
The contest was triggered by Ed Miliband’s resignation following a disastrous performance in the general election.
Additional reporting by PA
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