Labour leadership: 'Concerns' over ballot, says Andy Burnham

Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has told the BBC there are "concerns" about the party's voting system after reports many people had not yet received their ballots.

He said his team had passed on people's details to the party, although he does not want the voting deadline extended.

His campaign team has also criticised the party's closure of a helpline for people trying to vote in the contest.

Labour says ballots have been posted and emailed out correctly.

The party said the helpline had been replaced by a recorded message explaining how to vote.

It has advised supporters to check their inboxes for a final email reminder which contained the code they needed to vote.

It comes on the final full day of campaigning, as Mr Burnham, Jeremy Corbyn, Liz Kendall and Yvette Cooper chased last-minute votes.

Voting closes at 12:00 on Thursday, with the winner announced on Saturday.

Left-wing MP Jeremy Corbyn has gone from outsider to bookies' favourite.

'In the thousands'

Mr Burnham told the BBC: "There are still concerns, the party has worked through most of them. There have been a few problems today with ballot papers and those have been passed on to the Labour Party."

He added that the party had responded to his concerns and said "we have confidence that the process has been handled properly".

He stressed that he believed the complaints were "individual".

It comes after Mr Burnham's campaign manager, Michael Dugher, complained in a tweet about the closure of the voting helpline, saying it was "unbelievable".

BBC political correspondent Robin Brant said there was confusion in the Burnham campaign about what to tell people whose ballot papers had not arrived.

The campaign had been collating names of people affected, but had now been told each supporter must contact the party direct, he added.

Meanwhile one campaign source claimed the number of people not to have received their ballots was "probably in the thousands".

'Petty politics'

Earlier the four candidates, who have been in a series of debates since they first clashed in a hustings on June 17, used Daily Mirror articles to make their final pitches to voters.

Mr Corbyn said he had refused to make personal attacks during the campaign, adding: "Politics should be debated seriously. People are turned off by petty, personalised Westminster politics."

He was attacked by Ms Cooper, who said: "I won't do what Jeremy has done and make false promises to print money we don't have."

Mr Burnham said that under his leadership, Labour would no longer "look like a pale imitation of the Tories", while Ms Kendall said the party had to "learn the painful lessons of the last five years".

Some shadow ministers - including shadow chancellor Chris Leslie - have already said they would not serve in a Corbyn-led Labour Party. The Guardian reported that up to eight members of the shadow cabinet could say they would quit the front bench if he wins.

Acting leader Harriet Harman told the BBC's Daily Politics: "It was quite surprising to discover that I am possibly not old enough or posh enough to be the frontrunner of this current leadership contest."

This has been seen as a veiled attack on Mr Corbyn, who is widely regarded as the frontrunner and is the only candidate older than Ms Harman.

As the candidates tried to drum up support, Lord Prescott helped at Andy Burnham's phonebank

Instructions on what to tell supporters missing ballot papers were pinned up at Burnham campaign HQ

She was speaking after appearing in her final prime minister's questions before stepping down from the front bench after 28 years.

Across the despatch box, Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute, said she had "served her constituents, her party and this House with distinction from the front bench".

Labour leadership contest: the final days

• Candidates: Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Jeremy Corbyn, Liz Kendall

• Voting deadline: ballot papers must be returned by Thursday, 10 September; voting can be by post or online

• When will the winner be announced? At a special conference on Saturday 12 September

• Conference timings: It begins at 11:00 BST, with the result of Labour's deputy leadership election announced first. At 11:30, the winner of the leadership contest will be unveiled; they will then make a short acceptance speech. In both cases, round-by-round details of voting will be made available to show how each winner emerged

• How does the voting system work? Voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes in the first round, the person in last place drops out and their supporters' second preference votes are reallocated to the other candidates. This process continues until the candidate with the most accumulated votes wins

• 2016 London Mayoral elections: On Friday, 11 September, Labour will announce who has won the contest to be its candidate for next London mayoral election

As well as complaints from people claiming they have not received voting papers, there has been criticism of the process by which people can take part in the vote, with claims of infiltration by non-Labour supporters. People are able to pay £3 to become a registered supporter, entitling them to a vote in the contest.

There has been a huge increase in the party's electorate, with more than 160,000 applications to vote received in the final 24 hours of registrations.