David Miliband talking about return to frontline politics
The former Labour foreign secretary says he is ‘enthusiastic’ about Keir Starmer's leadership
Former Labour “big beast” David Miliband has hinted at a return to frontline politics more than a decade after losing his bid for the party leadership to his brother.
Speaking on LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr yesterday, Miliband said that whether he might stand as a Labour MP once again had “not been decided yet”. But the former foreign secretary added that the party had “put itself into a position where it’s got good people leading it” and that he was “enthusiastic” about Keir Starmer.
“He’s taken us from unelectability – the worst election results from 1935 – to being more than contenders now, for a serious general election,” said Miliband, who lost his own bid for the party leadership to his younger brother, Ed Miliband.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Until that 2010 defeat, the older Miliband had enjoyed a “heady” ascent in politics, said The New Statesman. After running the No. 10 policy unit during Tony Blair’s first term as prime minister, he “became an MP in 2001, was made a junior minister within a year and was elevated to the cabinet after Blair’s 2005 re-election”. Two years later, Miliband was made foreign secretary and also held “an unofficial title” as “Labour’s leader in waiting, and the only man thought capable of toppling Gordon Brown”, the magazine added.
But after his brother took the top job, Miliband refused to serve in the shadow cabinet, before quitting as MP for South Shields in 2013 to head up a New York-based humanitarian charity, the International Rescue Committee.
Amid talk that he may now return to the UK and politics, senior Labour sources told HuffPost said that “initial conversations with Miliband may have taken place”, although “there was no imminent prospect of him being a candidate at the next election”, due in 2024 or 2025.
However, an insider warned that Miliband’s return would “create endless speculation as to his role, as well as huge resentment from those who didn’t just disappear for a decade”.
Another added: “It’s very David Miliband that now we look like we might win he’s suddenly ‘ready’ to come back.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
'New arrivals are more than paying for themselves'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
6 stylish homes in Portland, Oregon
Feature Featuring a wall of windows in Collins View and a historic ballroom in Portland Heights
By The Week US Published
-
What's next for US interest rates?
The Explainer Stubborn inflation forestalls anticipated rate cuts
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Barack Obama 'behind Starmer transformation'
Under The Radar The former US president urged Labour leader to 'talk more openly'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Britain's biggest political donors
The Explainer With the 2024 general election set to be the highest-spending contest ever we look at who is giving to which party and why
By The Week UK Published
-
Keir Starmer: The Biography – five things we learned
Why everyone's talking about New book offers glimpses behind the Labour leader's political persona
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What will £28bn green investment U-turn cost Labour?
Today's Big Question Dropping flagship pledge 'will confirm workers' scepticism of the endless promises of jam tomorrow', said union leader
By The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published