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One of Tony Blair's last big allies in Parliament has vowed to back Jeremy Corbyn if he wins this summer's leadership election.

Lord Falconer hinted he'd be willing to rejoin the shadow cabinet despite quitting as Shadow Justice Secretary over the left-winger's leadership.

Mr Blair's former flatmate said Labour has "got to come together" after the result and present a "coherent unified prospectus for government".

"If we can't do that we are divided and we are incredibly vulnerable in any election," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We've got to be able to unify after this or we cease to be a proper contender for power."

(Image: Rex/Reuters)

In an apparent dig at Mr Corbyn, he said the contest against Owen Smith was all about who could lead Labour into government.

But he added: "I will back whoever wins. I will back the leader whoever it is."

Asked if he would accept an invitation to rejoin the shadow cabinet by frontrunner Mr Corbyn, he said: "Let's see what happens."

Lord Falconer shared a flat in London with Mr Blair when they were both training as young barristers.

He has never been an MP but Mr Blair made him a life peer in the House of Lords barely a week after he took power in 1997.

He served briefly as Justice Secretary before Gordon Brown took the helm, but returned to shadow the role after Ed Miliband quit last year.

In a move that surprised some, Mr Corbyn kept Lord Falconer on in his job before he quit along with 63 other frontbenchers following the EU referendum .

He was reportedly prepared to quit earlier if his leader used the Chilcot Report to attack Mr Blair.

Today Lord Falconer defended Labour's decision to fight a ruling which forced it to let 130,000 new members vote in the leadership election.

Ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing the case today, he said: "The Labour Party has been transformed over the past 18 months by the huge number of new members. That is essentially a good thing."

But he insisted the case was about ensuring Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) could make party rules without interference by judges.

(Image: Getty)

And he warned allowing the case would open the floodgates to others.

Asked about deputy leader Tom Watson's claim that "Trotsky entryists" are trying to take over the party, he admitted: "I'm sure there might be some new members who are old Trots.... trying to take advantage of events to their end."

But he added: "The vast vast majority of new members have nothing to do with Trotskyist entryists.

"99.99% have joined because they want a new politics that we as a party can completely reflect."

Asked about Labour's crisis he said optimistically: "I don't think it is a battle to the death."