Yahoo News Mary Creagh Joins Fight For Labour Leadership
Shadow international development secretary Mary Creagh has become the fifth candidate to join the fight for the Labour leadership.
The 47-year-old is up against Liz Kendall, Chuka Umunna, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper in the battle to replace Ed Miliband following Labour's General Election drubbing last week.
She announced her bid in an article for the Daily Mail website, saying: "I want to earn back the trust that Middle England has lost in the Labour Party.
"We forgot the hard-learned lessons of our last three election victories; that to win elections a party needs to offer hope.
"Labour didn't just lose Middle England last week. We lost Scotland and our industrial heartlands as well."
Ms Creagh, who was first elected as MP for Wakefield in 2005, said Labour lost because people do not trust the party with the economy - and that needed to change under the new leadership.
She added: "Our campaign message focused almost exclusively on the NHS, an emotive issue for many of us, but in the end, not people's main motivation for voting.
"People felt that Labour didn't understand their aspiration to earn money and provide a better life for their family.
"People trust Labour to look after their schools, hospitals and council services. But they simply do not trust us to run the economy and make them better off. That must change."
Sky's Chief Political Correspondent Jon Craig said Ms Creagh was "shabbily demoted" by Mr Miliband a year ago, and will be viewed as an "outsider" in the contest.
On Wednesday, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper announced her bid for the leadership .
She pledged to "make life better for families" - and conceded that Labour lost the election because it did not convince voters it "had the answers".
Ms Cooper is married to Ed Balls, who lost his job as an MP and shadow chancellor after a shock defeat.
She was Treasury chief secretary when the financial crisis struck in 2008, and on Thursday acknowledged the party did not always spend public money "wisely" during its time in office.
Her leadership announcement came hours after former health secretary Andy Burnham declared his candidacy.
He said: "Our challenge is not to go left or right, to focus on one part of the country above another, but to rediscover the beating heart of Labour."
He also appeared to take a swipe at potential leadership rival Tristram Hunt, who told Sky News on Sunday that Labour must appeal to the "John Lewis couples" who shop in smart department stores - as well as working-class families.
Mr Burnham added: "The party that I love has lost its emotional connection with millions of people.
"The way to get it back can't possibly be to choose one group of voters over another - to speak only to people on zero-hour contracts or only to shoppers at John Lewis."
Nominations for leader close on 15 June and for deputy on 17 June. The result will be announced on 12 September.
