Former energy secretary Ed Miliband on Saturday announced his candidature for the post of the leader of the Labour party. His elder brother, former foreign secretary David Miliband, is already a candidate for the post.
Announcing his decision to run for the top post in the Labour party, 40-year-old Ed Miliband told the Fabian Society in a speech, “I have talked it over with my family, about what it would mean. And I have made my decision. Today I am putting my name forward to be leader of the Labour party.”
Mentioning that his elder brother David, 44, is a contestant in the race too, Mr Ed Miliband said: “I think it should be a fraternal contest, and not just in terms of myself and David but all the candidates at this election.”
“David is my best friend in the world. I love him dearly and I think it is absolutely possible and necessary for this party to have a civilised contest. There is no way I’m going to take lumps out of him either on the record, off the record or behind the scenes. It is not my way of doing politics, but I’m certainly not going to do it to my brother and nor is he. I’m in it to win it, but win or lose we will remain the best of friends and I will still love him dearly,” Mr Ed said about his brother.
Mr Ed Miliband joked that he could reveal the answer to the question of which brother his mother would choose to support.
“I do want you to be the first to know the answer to this because I think I can say that I am confident that, on the basis of her position on the political spectrum and on the basis of the runners and riders, that her candidate for the Labour leadership will be Jon Cruddas,” he said. Till, now only the Miliband brothers have declared their candidature for the Labour leader’s post. Senior Labour leaders like Jack Straw and Alan Johnson have ruled out running for the post. However, Mr David Miliband is still the bookie favourite to win the leadership contest.