Jeremy Corbyn could be prime minster - Ken Livingstone

Ken Livingstone: Labour needs to stop saying it will do "pretty much what the Tories are doing"

Ken Livingstone has defended Labour leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn's electoral appeal, saying the left-winger could be prime minister.

Labour's ex-London mayor said he would not back the Islington North MP if he did not think he could win.

It comes after a row within Labour over the contest, with senior figures warning against a Mr Corbyn victory.

Mr Livingstone said the MP was an "ordinary guy" who connected with the public, comparing him to Nigel Farage.

Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall are the other candidates in the race to succeed Ed Miliband.

Meanwhile, Ms Kendall has criticised comments in The Times by shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer - a supporter of Mr Burnham's - who said neither she nor Ms Cooper would be able to unite the party to steer it through the "challenging" years ahead.

Ms Kendall took it to be an attack on the contribution the women had made to the party, and said it was a "gross insult".

'Death wish'

A YouGov poll for the Times on Tuesday put Mr Corbyn - initially seen as an outsider - ahead and Ms Kendall fourth.

It suggested Mr Corbyn could receive 43% of first preference votes, ahead of Andy Burnham on 26%, Yvette Cooper on 20% and Ms Kendall on 11%.

Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned the party would not win from a left-wing position, and one of his former advisers said MPs who helped Mr Corbyn onto the ballot paper but did not support him were "morons".

Meanwhile, ex-cabinet minister Alan Milburn said Labour had a "death wish" if it shifted left and Labour donor John Mills told the BBC the election of Mr Corbyn could trigger an "ideological split".

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Mr Corbyn has called for an end to "silly remarks" in the Labour leadership contest

But riding to the left-winger's defence, Mr Livingstone told BBC Radio 5 Live Mr Corbyn could win back voters who backed the Conservatives at the general election, particularly in southern England.

"Thirty years ago when it was a choice between Michael Foot and Denis Healey [to become Labour leader], I loved Michael Foot, I agreed with him, but I didn't think he could win and I supported Denis Healey.

"If I didn't think Jeremy could win, I wouldn't be backing him. But just the way people stop me on the street, he has electrified this campaign," he said.

He added: "He won't like me saying this but he's a bit like Nigel Farage - he comes over as an ordinary guy you like to have a pint with. Very few people in the Westminster bubble have that aura around them."

The former Labour MP criticised Labour's "austerity-lite" message at the election, saying the party failed to put forward an "alternative economic strategy" to the electorate.

Labour leadership contest

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Liz Kendall has been urged to back Andy Burnham or Yvette Cooper to defeat Jeremy Corbyn

  • Who are the candidates? Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn, Liz Kendall

  • Dates: Ballot papers will be sent out on 14 August; voting can take place by post or online. They must be returned by 10 September. The result is on 12 September.

  • Who can vote? All party members, registered supporters and affiliated supporters - including those joining via a union - get a vote

  • What is the voting system? The Alternative Vote system is being used so voters are asked to rank candidates in order of preference

  • How does it work? If no candidate gets 50% of all votes cast, the candidate in fourth place is eliminated. Their second preference votes are then redistributed among the remaining three. If there is still no winner, the third place candidate is eliminated with their second preferences (or third in the case of votes transferred from the fourth place candidates) redistributed. It is then a straight head-to-head between the last two candidates with the one having the most votes winning.

At-a-glance profiles of the four contenders

On Thursday Mr Corbyn responded to his critics by calling for an end to "silly remarks".

He told the BBC: "I think politics should be conducted on a comradely and friendly basis, and if people disagree with each other then say what they disagree on, and let's keep these silly remarks to themselves."

Also on Thursday, Ms Kendall dismissed calls for her to withdraw from the contest to ensure Mr Corbyn is beaten.

She told the BBC: "I'll be fighting for what I believe in until the very end."

A victory for Mr Corbyn, she claimed, would be a "disaster", saying that turning back to the politics of the 1980s and losing elections "does nothing to help the people" the party wants to help.

In a subsequent poll, for Ipsos Mori, 27% of the general public said Mr Burnham would be a good prime minister, compared to 22% for Ms Cooper, 17% for Mr Corbyn and 16% for Ms Kendall.

Mr Burnham also led among Labour supporters.

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