Four shadow cabinet members will today make one final plea to party members to give Liz Kendall their first preference vote.

Chuka Ummuna, Shadow Business Secretary; Tristram Hunt, Shadow Education Secretary; Emma Reynolds, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Gloria de Piero,Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities – all Kendall supporters – will put out a message to members this afternoon, in which they’ll say Kendall is the candidate who can build a “winning coalition so Labour can win again in 2020”.

There are less than 72 hours for members, supporters and affiliates to vote in the leadership election – polls close at Noon on Thursday. The result will be announced at a special conference on Saturday morning.

The four will urge party members to give Kendall their first preference because they say she is the candidate who will “give everyone the opportunity to prosper and get on in life.”

“In recent years, too many people believed Labour wasn’t interested in them and didn’t speak for them, or about their concerns. Whilst many voters know we are a party that wants to tackle poverty, they are not convinced that we are equally determined to give everyone the opportunity to prosper and get on in life.

Labour must continue to fight injustices like the Bedroom Tax and show how we will represent those who don’t face such appalling policies themselves, and that we will govern for the whole country. If we can’t convince people that we’re the right party to deliver higher living standards for the majority, we won’t even get a hearing from enough of the public, and we won’t be able to form a government.

Liz Kendall is the candidate who has been making these arguments consistently and passionately throughout this campaign – and is the candidate best placed to meet these challenges in the years to come”, they write.

Ummuna, Hunt and Reynolds will also join Kendall at a phone banking session this afternoon.

Umunna and Hunt are among those who have called for party unity in recent weeks and made clear that they will work with whoever is elected Labour leader. This came after suggestions that there could be a split in the party if Jeremy Corbyn triumphs on Saturday.

It’s thought Corbyn is on course to win the election. However, fellow leadership contenders Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham have both suggested that a sizeable number of members had not voted last week. Cooper claimed half of members hadn’t cast their ballot, while Burnham suggested the number was at around one third.