ANDY Burnham says he is still confident he can win the Labour leadership battle.

The Leigh MP said it will be a tight vote between him and Jeremy Corbyn but claims he is the only candidate that can unite the Labour party.

The ballot papers will be counted on September 12 after months of battling between candidates Andy Burnham Jeremy Corbyn, Liz Kendall, and Yvette Cooper.

In the early stages of the campaign. Mr Burnham was the clear front runner but Jeremy Corbyn is now the favourite.

Mr Corbyn is at odds of 1/4 with the bookies and Mr Burnham is 9/2.

Mr Burnham said: “It’s definitely been a long campaign but I am still fighting and I am confident that it is still there to be won.

“Of the candidates, I am the only one, as well as Corbyn, that can win now. It’s all boiled down to this and I am going to fight to the end.

“It is important to keep the party together and I would help in any way that I can to do that but I’m not thinking about being sat in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet because I am going to be in my own.”

The Labour party revealed that the contest been infiltrated by Conservative and Green Party voters with 1,900 fraudulent votes disqualified.

Mr Burnham said: “I was aware that other parties had signed up fraudulently and I asked that checks were made and 400 Tories were disqualified and 1,500 green party members. But having pushed for further checks I am reassured that we have weeded out those who were not eligible to vote and that the people with a vote are the ones that can. So whatever the vote is I will accept it.

“I am worried about the future of the Labour Party. If we make the wrong turn now it could take us back to the 80’s when we let Margaret Thatcher do her worst. The strongest message I am pushing for is that I am the candidate that can unite this party again.

“I would say to people that haven’t voted to give that vote to me.”