Labour grandee Lord Mandelson has urged Jeremy Corbyn to reach out to centrist voters if he wants to win big at the next general election.

The former Cabinet Minister - a long-time critic of the Labour leader - admitted the party’s prospects were now “very strong” following gains in June’s poll.

But he said Mr Corbyn now faced a choice as to whether he wanted to consolidate his “sectarian” support on the left or widen his appeal to voters.

“The Tories are giving him and the Labour Party victory on a plate at the next election, it seems to me. What sort of victory he gets depends on him and what he does now,” he told the BBC.

This is a change of tune from the former minister who caused controversy earlier this year when he said he tried to undermine Jeremy Corbyn "every single day".

Like many of Corbyn's critics, Lord Mandelson seems to have changed his opinion on the back of Labour's better than expected election results in June.

But the Labour peer warned: “I think he has a choice.
Lord Mandelson said he was New Labour 'to his core' (
Image:
Press Association)

“In the party, he can go for total ideological control of Labour, or he can opt instead for unity right across Labour’s broad spectrum.

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“In the country, he can either consolidate his sectarian support on the left and amongst the young voters, or he can additionally embrace more centrist and older voters.

“This is what will make the difference between a slender victory for the Labour Party or a substantial working majority.”

Mandelson said the Tories were running scared but warned his Labour colleagues that they would only win bin by moving to the centre.

"I've talked to two Conservative MPs in Parliament in the last week who are now talking about the threat of annihilation of the Conservative party at the next election and that very referendum that was designed to heal the divisions in the Conservative party has instead deepened them further."
Mandelson said Corbyn would win the next election (
Image:
AFP)

Asked whether he was now a Corbynista, Mandelson, who was a key ally of Tony Blair , said he was "New Labour to my core".

"No I am not a Corbynista, I am New Labour to my core because I believe in both social justice and economic efficiency but he is the leader," he said.

"The Tories are giving him and the Labour party victory on a plate at the next election it seems to me but what sort of victory he gets depends on him and what he does now."

A spokesperson for the Labour leader declined to comment on Lord Mandelson's comments but reminded the Labour grandee that 13 million people voted for the party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in June and that the party's vote share increase was the biggest for any Labour party since 1945.