I am truly humbled that so many of my colleagues have nominated me for the leadership of the Labour Party.

As a teenager I chose our party because of its values – values that I grew up with – and now I am honoured that this Party has chosen me.

I believe I have the values to understand what Britain needs, a record of experience that is an asset to the Labour party, and the right vision for the future of the country.

I am confident that my experience and my values give me the strength to take the tough decisions. This will be essential to take on the threat of a re-badged, but not reinvented Conservative Party. And that is why I would relish the opportunity to take on David Cameron and the Conservative Party.

In 1997 we inherited a Britain of economic instability, unemployment and chronic under-investment in public services. Since 1997 we have had the longest period of growth ever, creating two and half million more jobs and the first ever minimum wage.

This did not happen by accident. It happened because we applied our values – investing for the long term, putting the needs and concerns of British families first, and being willing to take tough progressive decisions – to economic policy.

It is one of my proudest achievements that people now trust Labour with the economy.

What lessons can we learn from what we have achieved in the economy?

• we must always act on the basis of a long term vision for our country;
• we must always be on the side of hard working families; and
• we must build a progressive consensus - year by year winning more and more people to the argument that Britain can be a stronger and fairer society where not just some but all can make the most of their potential.
• we have built a stable economy and a fairer society. And we have much further to go.

Britain is a country where even after our achievements of the past ten years, too many people are still denied opportunities: their potential unfulfilled, their aspirations unrealised, their dreams for themselves and their families frustrated.

Over the coming weeks, as I travel the country, I want to discuss with you and learn from you so we meet the new challenges – affordable housing, better work-life balance, making Britain number one for education, social responsibility for the environment, empowering local communities, migration and law and order, eradicating child poverty by giving every child the best start in life.

Our starting point must be the concerns, the struggles and the hopes and ambitions of families in every part of our country.

If we do this I am confident we can make Britain the country we all want it to be.

What drew the British people to new Labour in the 1990s was that we would give priority to the needs of hard working families – and this must drive all our decisions now and in the future.

And as the tasks of government change, the way we govern must change, not just policies but a new politics too. Renewal means inspiring people with our values – once again earning the trust of the British people – and renewal also means we need the Labour Party to build connections with every section of our community.

Together I know we can win an historic fourth term for our party.