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Four candidates in battle to lead opposition Labour Party

Prospective Labour leaders (L-R) Andy Burnham,Yvette Cooper, Mary Creagh, Tristram Hunt and Liz Kendall appear at the annual conference of an independent organisation for Labour Party members and trade unionists, London, May 16, 2015. REUTERS/Paul Hackett

LONDON (Reuters) - Four candidates have secured enough nominations to stand to be the next leader of Britain's main opposition Labour Party, which suffered a crushing defeat to Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives last month. Former leader Ed Miliband stepped down following the election loss, which has led to the party overhauling its policies amid recriminations from some activisists that it lost because it had become too left-wing. Labour's health spokesman Andy Burnham is considered the front-runner. Home affairs spokeswoman Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall, spokeswoman for care and older people, are also on the ballot paper after securing the necessary backing of 35 Labour members of parliament. Late entrant to the race Jeremy Corbyn, a long-serving left-wing lawmaker and vocal opponent of the Iraq war, also secured enough nominations just in time for Monday's mid-day deadline. The winner will be decided by a vote of party members, lawmakers and affiliates, including its main financial backers the trade unions. The result will be announced on Sept. 12. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Stephen Addison)