Left-winger Diane Abbott today announced she is to stand for the shadow cabinet and promised to be a strong voice for London.
The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington also hinted that she supported Ed Balls's argument for a slower timetable for public spending cuts.
Ms Abbott said: "Whatever my particular responsibilities would be, inside discussions in the shadow cabinet I would be a very strong voice for London. It's really important. I'm definitely going to run for the shadow cabinet."
She warned that the spending cuts would have a "huge impact" on the capital because of the high number of public sector workers in inner-city boroughs, and that women would be hardest hit as they depend more on child, housing and other benefits.
Despite being the first candidate eliminated in the leadership poll count, with support from 7.42 per cent of the electoral college, Ms Abbott said she believes she reflects a "substantial section of Labour Party opinion".
"We have to tackle the deficit but I think it is possible to do it in a more considered way and possibly more slowly," she said. "In the end, I would support whatever line the shadow cabinet agrees on."
However, she also warned Labour not to abandon key values as Britain seeks to deal with its growing debt mountain. She said: "Despite the economic crisis, we should not be downgrading other issues like equality, human rights and civil liberties."
She added: "We should not be pandering to people on immigration." The shortage of social housing in London and other cities had led to tensions but Ms Abbott said: "We should not be scapegoating immigrants."
The MP insisted that she would be a team player as Labour seeks to limit its time out of power to just one term. "I want to put some of my talents to the service of returning a Labour government," she said.
She also backed Ed Miliband's pledge not to oppose every policy of the Lib-Con coalition.
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Ms Abbott said she would be keen to have a shadow ministerial portfolio which allowed her to focus on inner city issues but added: "I will serve at the will and pleasure of the leader."
Ken Livingstone today called for reform of Labour's voting system for party leader to give the unions even more power.
He said the three electoral colleges — MPs and MEPs, unions and members — should be scrapped and each individual given an equally weighted vote.
It means that every affiliated union member, of which there are three million, would have the same say as each of Labour's 256 MPs. Under such a system Ed Miliband would have won by 10 per cent.
