Who's backing who in Labour's leadership poll?

Ahead of Labour's leadership ballot, Who Knows Who looks at the supporters and allies of the five candidates.

DAVID MILIBAND
The shadow foreign secretary has the biggest number of heavy hitters from the parliamentary Labour party's mainstream – a fact which reinforces his association with new Labour.

Peter Mandelson, Labour's "third man" and one of the architects of new Labour, endorsed David Miliband's candidature at the start of the week and warned that Labour under Ed Miliband would consign the party to an "electoral cul-de-sac". It prompted David to distance himself from previous Labour administrations, saying "It's time to move on."

Three weeks before that, on 11 August, Jack Straw - consecutively home secretary (1997-2001) and foreign secretary (2001-2006) under Tony Blair - endorsed the elder Miliband, announcing that he had "the strength and the depth to stand up to David Cameron at prime minister’s questions week after week".

(Straw, incidentally, joined David Miliband and 31 other Labour MPs to nominate Diane Abbott as a candidate in a bid deflect criticism that the contest was dominated by white Oxbridge-educated males. For the record, Abbott studied at Cambridge.)

Shadow chancellor Alistair Darling and shadow home secretary Alan Johnson are two other Labour heavyweights backing the MP for South Shields. Darling told his constituency party Miliband had "the judgement and gravitas to make tough decisions". Johnson, meanwhile, chose 12 May – the day after the formation of the coalition government – to tell Radio 4's Today programme he was supporting Miliband, Labour's "greatest talent".

At least 12 members of the shadow cabinet are supporting David Miliband. They include Bob Ainsworth (defence), Douglas Alexander (international development), Ben Bradshaw (culture), Liam Byrne (Treasury secretary), Tessa Jowell (Cabinet Office), Pat McFadden (business), Jim Murphy (Scotland), and Shaun Woodward (Northern Ireland).

Other PLP luminaries include former Labour deputy leadership contender John Cruddas, former Labour housing minister Caroline Flint, former innovations minister David Lammy, and former immigration minister Phil Woolas.

In total, the Labour List website calculates that Miliband enjoys the backing of 102 of the 256 Labour MPs and six MEPs.

Where David Miliband scores relatively poorly is in trade union support. Only two unions, Usdaw and Community. Compare that with his brother Ed, who has the backing of six unions, including Unison, Unite and the GMB.

In terms of donations, the elder Miliband outstrips other candidates, having received cash from, among others, David Sainsbury and "PR guru" Anthony Bailey.

ED MILIBAND
The relationship at the heart of this contest is between Ed Miliband and his older brother. Both have been at pains to stress fraternal love, but battle lines have been drawn in recent days as the younger brother attempts to distance himself from the new Labour project.

Where David Miliband is regarded as Blairite, Ed Miliband appears to be championing a more left-wing agenda. On his leadership campaign website, he calls on the party to escape "the New Labour comfort zone" and to rebuild its relationship with the trade union movement "from the ground up".

Not surprisingly, he has secured the support of more trade unions than any other candidate: the GMB, the NUM, Ucatt, Unison, Unite and Unity.

Ed Miliband also appears to have cornered the market in old Labour grandees. Early on in the contest, former Labour leader Lord Kinnock declared that he had the "X Factor" when it came to winning over new supporters. Lord Hattersley has cited him as "the man who can remedy New labour's failures".

And Tony Benn – who stood against Roy Hattersley in Labour’s 1983 deputy leadership contest – has come out for the younger Miliband. Benn was a family friend of the Milibands' parents (their father Ralph was an eminent Marxist academic), and Ed worked in Tony Benn's office as a teenager.

Ed Miliband's political support within the PLP is not as stellar as his brother's, but nonetheless includes five shadow cabinet members, including Hilary Benn (environment), Peter Hain (Wales), John Denham (communities and local government), and John Healey (housing).

Sadiq Khan, who is running his leadership campaign, has the shadow transport brief. Frank Field, controversially chosen by the coalition government to lead a review of poverty, is also an Ed Miliband supporter.

ED BALLS
Balls rose to political prominence under the wing of Gordon Brown, who has thus far failed to come out in support of a candidate. A recent Channel 4 News interview with Balls noted that he had suffered more than fellow candidate Ed Miliband – also a Brownite – from his association with the former prime minister.

Nor does Ed Balls enjoy Miliband levels of support from within the higher echelons of the Labour party. The only other shadow cabinet minister backing him is Yvette Cooper, who happens to be his wife.

Former paymaster general and New Statesman owner Geoffrey Robinson is behind him, as is Eric Joyce, who resigned as PPS to Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth in September 2009 over concerns about the treatment of British forces (Channel 4 News broke the story). Vernon Coaker, who worked alongside Balls at the Department for Children, Schools and Families, is also a supporter.

Ed Balls has secured the endorsement of one union, the Communication Workers. Perhaps the best known of his supporters is former London mayor Ken Livingstone. Livingstone has written to all Labour party members to tell them he had found Balls the most effective of the five candidates he had worked with.

Ed Balls's biggest campaign donation has been from Ken Follett, husband of ex-Labour MP Barbara Follett. The best-selling author handed over £100,000.

ANDY BURNHAM
The former health secretary has positioned himself during the campaign as someone both outside the political chattering classes and not preoccupied by why Labour lost middle-class voters in the 2010 general election.

Burnham's campaign has the support of 25 MPs and one MEP. Former Home Secretary David Blunkett is his highest-profile supporter. He has said of him: "It is absolutely crucial that we fight the next election and the one after that – not refight the 2005 and 2010 elections." Blunkett has also drawn attention to Burnham's "vision of the future".

The right honorable member for Leigh's other backers include former communities and local government secretary Hazel Blears, who resigned amid controversy in June 2009 after coming under pressure over her expenses claims, and Great Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell.

Outside politics, the Everton-supporting Burnham is endorsed by Liverpool FC stalwart Jamie Carragher. Carragher, who grew up a Toffees fan, announced his support in June and followed up the announcement with a £10,000 donation to his campaign.

DIANE ABBOTT
The Hackney North MP has the support of 14 Labour MPs. They include Harriet Harman, acting leader of the Labour party and minister for women and equality between 2007 and 2010. In June she predicted Abbott would "give the boys a run for their money". Harman confirmed that she had nominated her fellow female MP to prevent the election being all male.

Controversially, Abbott's fellow leadership candidate David Miliband transferred his nomination to her in June in order to ensure she received the necessary 33 nominations to allow her to stand. Jack Straw and Phil Woolas were among others who did likewise.

The 14 MPs supporting Abbott include three notable political mavericks. Jeremy Corbyn is among the most left-wing of Labour MPs, writing for the Communist-leaning Morning Star. Dennis Skinner, the outspoken MP for Bolsover since 1970, is referred to by some as "the beast of Bolsover" for his perceived contempt of parliamentary procedures. And MP Kate Hoey, a former sports minister, is unusual among Labour MPs in her opposition to a ban on foxhunting.