Labour must win back support in London and the South or be doomed to political failure in future, a Cabinet minister will warn tonight.

University and Skills Secretary John Denham will say in a lecture that the party lost touch with southern voters by appearing not to understand their needs.

Mr Denham, the only Cabinet member in a southern seat, hit back at Labour MPs who say the party should focus on nursing its heartlands. He said present voter worries in the South, about house prices and the cost of living, were what the rest of the country will be fretting about.

"Many people say that the challenge to Labour is the challenge of the South," he will say. "But I put it differently. The political challenge of the South is the political challenge of the future."

His analysis comes as Gordon Brown tried to fight back from last week's mayoral and town hall drubbing by telling the public he empathised with their concerns.

Appearing on ITV's This Morning, he blamed economic unease and high prices for the defeats. "Anybody who is watching this programme is worried about the price of bread, the price of milk, petrol and utility bills," he said. "We have to show people over the next few months that we understand."

In his Fabian Society speech, Mr Denham was also highlighting the high cost of living, particularly in London.

The party should talk about "the distribution of rewards" for success, rather than simply redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor, and show "that our promise of fairness is rooted in our determination to create opportunities for those who want to take them, not over-protection for those who don't." He will say Labour had also been guilty of mixed messages "to different people at the cost of a vision of a society that unites voters from different backgrounds. It has left too many confused about what we stand for."

Labour was today suffering fresh embarrassment over the apparent rift between Mr Brown and Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander. She continued to call on the Scottish Nationalist administration in Edinburgh to bring forward a vote on the future of the 300-year-old Union, in breach of Mr Brown's line. During questions at Holyrood she told First Minster Alex Salmond: "The question is simply - will he bring forward a referendum Bill in next year's legislative programme next week?"

But SNP MPs said her position was looking untenable after Mr Brown failed to support her yesterday.

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