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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Liz Kendall says she is not the 'Blairite' candidate for the Labour leadership | Liz Kendall says she is not the 'Blairite' candidate for the Labour leadership |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall has downplayed her association with the party’s so-called “Blairite” faction, claiming the label is no longer relevant. | Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall has downplayed her association with the party’s so-called “Blairite” faction, claiming the label is no longer relevant. |
| During a radio interview in which she launched a new policy to promote a voluntary living wage, Ms Kendall said she represented a break with the past. | During a radio interview in which she launched a new policy to promote a voluntary living wage, Ms Kendall said she represented a break with the past. |
| “We have to move on from these labels of the past,” she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. “I’m not a Blairite candidate, I’m my own candidate.” | “We have to move on from these labels of the past,” she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. “I’m not a Blairite candidate, I’m my own candidate.” |
| The term “Blairite” originally referred to supporters of Tony Blair, as opposed to “Brownites”, grouped around his political rival Gordon Brown. | The term “Blairite” originally referred to supporters of Tony Blair, as opposed to “Brownites”, grouped around his political rival Gordon Brown. |
| Since Mr Blair’s departure the word has come to describe those on the party’s moderate, centrist, or centre-right wing. | Since Mr Blair’s departure the word has come to describe those on the party’s moderate, centrist, or centre-right wing. |
| It is increasingly used as a pejorative, and is now rarely a term members of the party describe themselves as. | It is increasingly used as a pejorative, and is now rarely a term members of the party describe themselves as. |
| Ms Kendall is widely regarded as the candidate representing this political grouping, stressing policies and rhetoric that are overwhelmingly positive towards business and ‘aspiration’. | Ms Kendall is widely regarded as the candidate representing this political grouping, stressing policies and rhetoric that are overwhelmingly positive towards business and ‘aspiration’. |
| By contrast, Jeremy Corbyn is the candidate most favoured by the party’s left wing, while Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham are most at home on its centre-left. | By contrast, Jeremy Corbyn is the candidate most favoured by the party’s left wing, while Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham are most at home on its centre-left. |
| In the interview Ms Kendall said that while the deficit was being reduced she would not be drawn on reducing the 45p top rate of tax to 40p – though she did not rule out future cuts. | In the interview Ms Kendall said that while the deficit was being reduced she would not be drawn on reducing the 45p top rate of tax to 40p – though she did not rule out future cuts. |
| She has previously said she does not believe the rate should be return to 50p, as the last Labour government left it. | |
| Ms Kendall has previously been subject to an attack by her rival Yvette Cooper last month decrying leadership candidates intent on “swallowing the Tory manifesto”. | Ms Kendall has previously been subject to an attack by her rival Yvette Cooper last month decrying leadership candidates intent on “swallowing the Tory manifesto”. |
| Her distinctive policies announced so far include encouraging firms to voluntarily pay the living wage and an Australian-style points-based immigration system. | Her distinctive policies announced so far include encouraging firms to voluntarily pay the living wage and an Australian-style points-based immigration system. |