I'm proud of our achievements, but I know why we lost. From the north-west mill towns to the Medway towns, too many people on lower incomes who voted Labour in the past thought we were not always listening to their concerns on jobs, housing and fair migration.

So we need a leader who doesn't just listen, but hears, acts and can take people with them and is as at home speaking to mums, dads and pensioners or knocking doors on a council estate as at think tank seminars or international meetings.

We need a leader who can take on the Tories and Lib Dems, as I have leading the fight against their unfair VAT rise, their plan to break-up the Royal Mail and cuts to free school meals and new school buildings.

We need a leader who is rooted in the values of the Labour, co-operative and trade union movement and can make the right judgements under pressure - as I did on the Euro and raising national insurance to transform the NHS.

We need a leader who can deliver credible and radical policies in government - as I did on tackling child poverty, reforming the social work profession and being the only Cabinet minister to implement the living wage in my Department. And I have set out new policies including a graduate tax to replace top-up fees, starting the 50p top rate of tax at £100,000 and a written constitution.

Most of all Labour must win the argument that this Tory-Liberal government is repeating the deflationary mistakes of the 1930s and 1980s. So we also need a leader who can show there is an alternative and I am uniquely placed to put the case for a different course based on boosting growth and jobs, regulating markets and stronger public services.

Political parties neglect their base at their peril. In our early years in office, there were endless stories that we were considering ending the union link. At times we seemed to denigrate the vital role of local government. And in the second term the government sometimes sounded as if public services could only be improved by attacking public sector workers.

I want to strengthen our links with the trade unions in every constituency and union branch. I have stood up to attacks on the union link and the Tory-Lib Dem assault on our welfare state, public sector jobs, pay and pensions. And I want to reinvigorate Annual Conference as the debating chamber for working people in our country, introduce a Diversity Fund to help under-represented groups get elected and end undemocratic imposed selections.

Labour needs a leader who can mount an effective opposition, earn the electorate's trust to be the next Prime Minister and have the strength and resilience to do the top job. I hope you will join people from across our party - people like Ken Livingstone, the CWU's Billy Hayes, Kate Green, John Healey and Norma Stephenson - in supporting me.

Find out more about my campaign at www.edballs4labour.org  

Rt Hon Ed Balls MP