- Lord Mandelson sounds warning on the important of Labour leadership contest
- Warns that picking the 'wrong' leader could spell disaster for the party's future
- Former Cabinet minister says Tory majority came 'courtesy' of Jeremy Corbyn
Lord Mandelson (pictured) warned Labour could be finished if it chooses the wrong leader this Spring
Labour could be finished if it chooses the wrong leader this Spring, Lord Mandelson warned today.
The former Cabinet minister swiped that left-winger Jeremy Corbyn had helped deliver a 'stonking' majority for the Tories last month.
And the peer, a key figure in bringing Labour out of the wilderness and back to power in the 1990s, voiced fears that another defeat would raise serious questions about the party's 'future viability'.
The warning came as the contests to succeed Mr Corbyn heats up, with four candidates vying to take the top job when the votes of activists are counted on April 4.
Sir Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey - seen as the 'continuity' hard-Left candidate - are the favourites.
But backbencher Lisa Nandy and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry are also pushing their cases.
Lord Mandelson, who served in the Cabinet under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, has refused to back any particular candidate.
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But speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he complained that Boris Johnson has a 'stonking great Parliament majority' that had been secured 'courtesy not least of Jeremy Corbyn'.
Asked what would happen to Labour if it chooses the wrong leader this time, Lord Mandelson said: 'There is every possibility that if the Labour Party makes the wrong choice of leader we will almost certainly be looking at electoral defeat again. That would be the fifth in a row.
'I think that there would therefore be serious question marks put over the future viability of the Labour Party.
'Fortunately we have alternative talented candidates for the party to choose from. I hope they do.'
The Labour leadership is being contested between (pictured left to right at a hustings on Bristol over the weekend) shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, backbencher Lisa Nandy, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7960345/Labour-FINISHED-chooses-wrong-leader-warns-Lord-Mandelson.html
