Labour contenders: Andy Burnham – BBC News

His other major passion in life is football – he is a lifelong Everton supporter. During his brief spell as culture secretary, he campaigned against the commercialisation of the game, and for fans to be given a greater say in the way their clubs are run.

Earlier in his career, as administrator to the government’s football taskforce, he was credited with securing the agreement in which Premier League clubs agreed to give 5% of their TV revenues to the grass-roots development of young players.

He has even received an endorsement from Liverpool and England footballer Jamie Carragher.

It would be a major upset if Mr Burnham managed to come out on top when the votes are counted in the Labour leadership contest in September. He struggled to gain the necessary 33 nominations from MPs to get on to the ballot paper.

By mid-July, he was trailing the Miliband brothers in terms of backing from constituency Labour parties – with 15, but he was he ahead of Ms Abbott, with nine, and Mr Balls, with six.

The row over Lord Mandelson’s memoir seems to have re-energised his campaign, as he made a direct connection between the Blair/Brown wars and the “loss of trust” among voters and Labour’s rank-and-file.

“The losers were the party members who were demoralised by the disunity at the top of the party while they were flying the flag for Labour on doorsteps across the country.

“Party members are fed up to the back teeth with the arrogance of those who say and write what they like while telling members how it’s going to be.”

It remains to be seen whether Mr Burnham’s man-of-the-people rhetoric strikes a chord with enough Labour members to make a difference come September.