Labour chairwoman Hazel Blears will launch her campaign for the deputy leadership on Saturday.
Aides said she would announce her bid to succeed John Prescott in a speech in her Salford constituency.
Ms Blears has been seen as a likely challenger but has refused to officially throw her hat in the ring until now.
Announcing her intention to stand when the vacancy arises later this year, Ms Blears will promise to ensure that Labour is the party of "success and aspiration".
Casting herself as a Blairite candidate for the deputy position, Ms Blears will insist there is no conflict between success and looking after the most vulnerable.
She will say that Labour's three consecutive general election wins have been thanks to its being in touch with the British people's aspirations.
The party must stay in touch with those aspirations as it enters the next phase of the New Labour project, she will add.
Her campaign, which will be launched from a regeneration area which aides described as as a "metaphor for Labour government", will be managed by public health minister Caroline Flint.
Ms Blears is the second woman, alongside constitutional affairs minister Harriet Harman, to formally join the race for the deputy leadership.
Education Secretary Alan Johnson, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn and backbencher Jon Cruddas have also declared their intention to stand. Commons Leader Jack Straw has said he is also considering a tilt.
