{"id":3627,"date":"2024-05-24T10:09:15","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T10:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/?p=3627"},"modified":"2024-05-24T10:16:52","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T10:16:52","slug":"ed-milliband","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/?p=3627","title":{"rendered":"ED MILLIBAND"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The leading Jewish member of Kier Starmer's team<\/h4>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edward Samuel Miliband<\/strong> (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero<\/a> since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament<\/a> (MP) for Doncaster North<\/a> since 2005<\/a>. Miliband was Leader of the Labour Party<\/a> and Leader of the Opposition<\/a> between 2010 and 2015. Alongside his brother, Foreign Secretary<\/a> David Miliband<\/a>, he served in the Cabinet<\/a> from 2007 to 2010 under Prime Minister<\/a> Gordon Brown<\/a>.[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miliband was born in the\u00a0Fitzrovia<\/a>\u00a0district of\u00a0Central London<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Polish Jewish<\/a>\u00a0immigrants\u00a0Marion Kozak<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ralph Miliband<\/a>, a\u00a0Marxist<\/a>\u00a0intellectual and native of\u00a0Brussels<\/a>\u00a0who fled\u00a0Belgium<\/a>\u00a0during World War II. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He graduated from\u00a0Corpus Christi College, Oxford<\/a>\u00a0and later from the\u00a0London School of Economics<\/a>. Miliband became first a television journalist, then a Labour Party\u00a0researcher<\/a>\u00a0and a visiting scholar at\u00a0Harvard University<\/a>, before rising to become one of\u00a0Chancellor<\/a>\u00a0Gordon Brown's confidants and chairman of\u00a0HM Treasury<\/a>'s Council of Economic Advisers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was elected to the\u00a0House of Commons<\/a>\u00a0in 2005 and Prime Minister\u00a0Tony Blair<\/a>\u00a0made him\u00a0Minister for the Third Sector<\/a>\u00a0in May 2006. When Brown became Prime Minister in 2007, he appointed Miliband\u00a0Minister for the Cabinet Office<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster<\/a>. Miliband was subsequently promoted to the new post of\u00a0Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change<\/a>, a position he held from 2008 to 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Labour Party was defeated at the 2010 general election<\/a>, Brown resigned as Leader of the Labour Party; in September 2010, Miliband was elected to replace him<\/a>. His tenure as Labour leader was characterised by a leftward shift in his party's policies under the \"One Nation Labour<\/a>\" branding, and by opposition to the Conservative\u2013Liberal Democrat coalition government<\/a>'s cuts to the public sector<\/a>. Miliband also abolished the electoral college<\/a> system to elect the leader and deputy leader of the Labour Party, and replaced it with a \"one member, one vote<\/a>\" system in 2014. He led his party into several elections, including the 2014 European Parliament election<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Labour's defeat by the Conservative Party<\/a> at the 2015 general election<\/a>, Miliband resigned as leader on 8 May 2015. He was succeeded following a leadership election<\/a> by Jeremy Corbyn<\/a>. On 6 April 2020, Corbyn's successor Keir Starmer<\/a> appointed Miliband Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy<\/a>, succeeding Rebecca Long-Bailey<\/a>. He became Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero<\/a> in the November 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early life and education <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born in\u00a0University College Hospital<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Fitzrovia<\/a>,\u00a0London<\/a>, Miliband is the younger son of immigrant parents. <\/sup>\u00a0His mother,\u00a0Marion Kozak<\/a>, a human rights campaigner and early\u00a0CND<\/a>\u00a0member, is a\u00a0Polish Jew<\/a>\u00a0who survived\u00a0the Holocaust<\/a>\u00a0thanks to being\u00a0protected<\/a>\u00a0by Catholic Poles. His father,\u00a0Ralph Miliband<\/a>, was a Belgian-born Polish Jewish\u00a0Marxist<\/a>\u00a0academic whose father fled with him to England during the\u00a0Second World War<\/a>. <\/sup>\u00a0The family lived on Edis Street in\u00a0Primrose Hill<\/a>, London. His elder brother,\u00a0David Miliband<\/a>, still owns the house as of 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralph Miliband left his academic post at the\u00a0London School of Economics<\/a>\u00a0in 1972 to take up a chair at the\u00a0University of Leeds<\/a>\u00a0as a professor of Politics. His family moved to Leeds with him in 1973; Miliband attended Featherbank Infant School in\u00a0Horsforth<\/a>\u00a0between 1974 and 1977, during which time he became a fan of\u00a0Leeds United<\/a>. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owing to his father's later employment as a roving teacher, Miliband spent two spells living in\u00a0Boston<\/a>,\u00a0Massachusetts<\/a>, one year when he was seven and one\u00a0middle school<\/a>\u00a0term when he was twelve. Miliband remembered his time in the US as some of his happiest, during which he became a fan of American culture, watching\u00a0Dallas<\/a><\/em>[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and following the\u00a0Boston Red Sox<\/a> <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and the\u00a0New England Patriots<\/a>. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 1978 and 1981, Ed Miliband attended Primrose Hill Primary School, near\u00a0Primrose Hill<\/a>, in\u00a0Camden<\/a>\u00a0and then from 1981 to 1989,\u00a0Haverstock Comprehensive School<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Chalk Farm<\/a>. He learned to play the violin while at school, <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and as a teenager, he reviewed films and plays on\u00a0LBC Radio<\/a>'s\u00a0Young London<\/em>\u00a0programme as one of its fortnightly \"Three O'Clock Reviewers\". After completing his\u00a0O-levels<\/a>, he worked as an intern to family friend\u00a0Tony Benn<\/a>, the\u00a0MP<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Chesterfield<\/a>. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1989, Miliband gained four\u00a0A Levels<\/a>\u2014in Mathematics (A), English (A), Further Mathematics (B) and Physics (B)\u2014and then read\u00a0Philosophy, Politics and Economics<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0Corpus Christi College, Oxford<\/a>. In his first year, he was elected\u00a0JCR President<\/a>, leading a student campaign against a rise in rent charges. In his second year he dropped philosophy, and was awarded an\u00a0upper second class<\/a>\u00a0Bachelor of Arts<\/a>\u00a0degree. He went on to graduate from the London School of Economics with a\u00a0Master of Science<\/a>\u00a0in Economics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early political career <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Special Adviser <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 1992, after graduating from the University of Oxford, Miliband began his working career in the media as a\u00a0researcher<\/a>\u00a0to co-presenter\u00a0Andrew Rawnsley<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Channel 4<\/a>\u00a0show\u00a0A Week in Politics<\/em>.[ <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In 1993,\u00a0Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury<\/a>\u00a0Harriet Harman<\/a>\u00a0approached Rawnsley to recruit Miliband as her policy researcher and speechwriter. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0At the time,\u00a0Yvette Cooper<\/a>\u00a0also worked for Harman as part of Labour's Shadow Treasury team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1994, when Harriet Harman was moved by the\u00a0newly elected<\/a>\u00a0Labour Leader<\/a>\u00a0Tony Blair<\/a>\u00a0to become\u00a0Shadow Secretary of State for Employment<\/a>, Miliband stayed on in the Shadow Treasury team and was promoted to work for\u00a0Shadow Chancellor<\/a>\u00a0Gordon Brown<\/a>.[ <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In 1995, with encouragement from Gordon Brown, Miliband took time out from his job to study at the\u00a0London School of Economics<\/a>, where he obtained a master's degree in economics. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0After Labour's\u00a01997<\/a>\u00a0landslide victory, Miliband was appointed as a\u00a0special adviser<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Chancellor Gordon Brown<\/a>\u00a0from 1997 to 2002.[18]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvard[edit<\/a>]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On 25 July 2002, it was announced that Miliband would take a 12-month unpaid\u00a0sabbatical<\/a>\u00a0from HM Treasury to be a\u00a0visiting scholar<\/a>\u00a0at the Center for European Studies of\u00a0Harvard University<\/a>\u00a0for two\u00a0semesters<\/a>. He spent his time at Harvard teaching economics, <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and stayed there after September 2003 for an additional semester teaching a course titled \"What's Left? The Politics of Social Justice\". <\/a><\/sup>During this time, he was granted \"access\" to\u00a0Senator<\/a>\u00a0John Kerry<\/a>\u00a0and reported to Brown on the presidential hopeful's progress. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0After Miliband returned to the UK in January 2004 Gordon Brown appointed him Chairman of HM Treasury's Council of Economic Advisers as a replacement for\u00a0Ed Balls<\/a>, with specific responsibility for directing the UK's long-term economic planning. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parliament <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In early 2005, Miliband resigned his advisory role to HM Treasury to stand for election.\u00a0Kevin Hughes<\/a>, then the Labour MP for\u00a0Doncaster North<\/a>, announced in February of that year that he would be standing down at the next election due to being diagnosed with\u00a0motor neurone disease<\/a>. Miliband applied for selection to be the\u00a0candidate<\/a>\u00a0in the safe Labour seat and won<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordon Brown visited Doncaster North during the general election campaign to support his former adviser. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Miliband was elected on\u00a05 May 2005<\/a>, with 55.5% of the vote and a majority of 12,656.[26]<\/a>[27]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0He made his\u00a0maiden speech<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0House of Commons<\/a>\u00a0on 23 May, responding to comments made by future\u00a0Speaker<\/a>\u00a0John Bercow<\/a>. ]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In Tony Blair's frontbench reshuffle in May 2006, he was made\u00a0Minister for the Third Sector<\/a>, with responsibility for voluntary and charity organisations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cabinet <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On 28 June 2007, the day after Gordon Brown became\u00a0Prime Minister<\/a>, Miliband was sworn of the\u00a0Privy Council<\/a>\u00a0and appointed\u00a0Minister for the Cabinet Office<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster<\/a>, being promoted to the\u00a0cabinet<\/a>. This meant that he and his brother,\u00a0Foreign Secretary<\/a>\u00a0David Miliband, became the first brothers to serve in a British cabinet since\u00a0Edward<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Oliver Stanley<\/a>\u00a0in 1938 \u00a0He was additionally given the task of drafting Labour's manifesto for the\u00a02010 general election<\/a>. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 3 October 2008, Miliband was promoted to become\u00a0Secretary of State<\/a>\u00a0for the newly created\u00a0Department of Energy and Climate Change<\/a>\u00a0in a cabinet reshuffle. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0On 16 October, Miliband announced that the British government would legislate to oblige itself to cut\u00a0greenhouse emissions<\/a>\u00a0by 80% by 2050, rather than the 60% cut in carbon dioxide emissions previously announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ien Summit<\/a>, from which emerged a global commitment to provide an additional US$10\u00a0billion a year to fight the effects of\u00a0climate change<\/a>, with an additional $100\u00a0billion a year provided by 2020 The conference was not able to achieve a legally binding agreement. Miliband accused China of deliberately foiling attempts at a binding agreement; China explicitly denied this, accusing British politicians of engaging in a \"political scheme\" <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the\u00a02009 parliamentary expenses scandal<\/a>, Miliband was named by the\u00a0Daily Telegraph<\/em>\u00a0as one of the \"saints\" of the scandal, due to his claiming one of the lowest amounts of expenses in the House of Commons and submitting no claims that later had to be paid back. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leadership of the Labour Party <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Leadership election <\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/a>
Miliband in his leadership campaign, 2010.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At the\u00a02010 general election<\/a>, Miliband was re-elected with a decreased vote share of 47.3% and a decreased majority of 10,909. <\/sup>\u00a0Following the\u00a0formation<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Conservative\u2013Liberal Democrat coalition government<\/a>\u00a0on 11 May 2010, Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party with immediate effect.\u00a0Deputy Leader<\/a>\u00a0Harriet Harman took over as Acting Leader and became\u00a0Leader of the Opposition<\/a>. On 14 May, Miliband announced that he would stand as a candidate in the\u00a0forthcoming leadership election<\/a> \u00a0He launched his campaign during a speech given at a\u00a0Fabian Society<\/a>\u00a0conference and was nominated by 62 fellow Labour MPs. The other candidates were left-wing backbencher\u00a0Diane Abbott<\/a>,\u00a0Shadow Education Secretary<\/a>\u00a0Ed Balls,\u00a0Shadow Health Secretary<\/a>\u00a0Andy Burnham<\/a>\u00a0and Miliband's elder brother,\u00a0Shadow Foreign Secretary<\/a>\u00a0David Miliband. <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 23 May, former Labour leader\u00a0Neil Kinnock<\/a>\u00a0announced that he would endorse Ed Miliband's campaign, saying that he had \"the capacity to inspire people\" and that he had \"strong values and the ability to 'lift' people\". <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Other senior Labour figures who backed the younger Miliband included Tony Benn and former deputy leaders\u00a0Roy Hattersley<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Margaret Beckett<\/a>. By 9 June, the deadline for entry into the leadership election, Miliband had been nominated by just over 24% of the\u00a0Parliamentary Labour Party<\/a>, double the threshold. By September, Miliband had received the support of six trade unions, including both\u00a0Unite<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0UNISON<\/a>, 151 of 650\u00a0Constituency Labour Parties<\/a>, three affiliated socialist societies, and half of Labour\u00a0MEPs<\/a>.[47]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ed Miliband subsequently won the election, the result of which was announced on 25 September 2010, after second, third and fourth preferences votes were counted, achieving the support of 50.654% of the electoral college, defeating his brother by 1.3%. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In the fourth and final stage of the redistribution of votes after three candidates had been eliminated, Ed Miliband led in the trade unions and affiliated organisations section of the electoral college (19.93% of the total to David's 13.40%), but in both the MPs and MEPs section (15.52% to 17.81%), and Constituency Labour Party section (15.20% to 18.14%), came second. In the final round, Ed Miliband won with a total of 175,519 votes to David's 147,220 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shadow Cabinet <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Main articles: Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband<\/a> and Opposition frontbench of Ed Miliband<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\/<\/a>
At PMQs<\/a> circa 2012, flanked by Ed Balls and Harriet Harman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The first\u00a0election to the Shadow Cabinet<\/a>\u00a0that took place under Miliband's leadership was on 7 October 2010. Ending days of speculation, David Miliband announced that he would not seek election to the Shadow Cabinet on 29 September, the day nominations closed, saying he wanted to avoid \"constant comparison\" with his brother Ed. The three other defeated candidates for the Labour leadership all stood in the election, though Diane Abbott failed to win enough votes to gain a place. Following the election, Miliband unveiled his\u00a0Shadow Cabinet<\/a>\u00a0on 8 October 2010. Among others, he appointed\u00a0Alan Johnson<\/a>\u00a0as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Yvette Cooper was chosen as Shadow Foreign Secretary, and both defeated Labour leadership candidates Ed Balls and Andy Burnham were given senior roles, becoming\u00a0Shadow Home Secretary<\/a>\u00a0and Shadow Education Secretary respectively. Burnham was also given responsibility for overseeing Labour's election co-ordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadiq Khan<\/a>, who managed Miliband's successful leadership campaign, was appointed\u00a0Shadow Justice Secretary<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Shadow Lord Chancellor<\/a>, and continuing Deputy Leader Harriet Harman continued to shadow\u00a0Deputy Prime Minister<\/a>\u00a0Nick Clegg, as well as being made\u00a0Shadow International Development Secretary<\/a> \u00a0Alan Johnson would later resign, stepping down for \"personal reasons\" on 20 January 2011, necessitating Miliband's first reshuffle, in which he made Balls Shadow Chancellor, Cooper Shadow Home Secretary and\u00a0Douglas Alexander<\/a>\u00a0Shadow Foreign Secretary. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 24 June 2011, it was reported that Miliband was seeking to change the decades-old rule that Labour's Shadow Cabinet would be elected every two years, instead wanting to adopt a system where he alone had the authority to select its members. Miliband later confirmed the story, claiming that the rule represented \"a legacy of Labour's past in opposition\". On 5 July, Labour MPs voted overwhelmingly by a margin of 196 to 41 to back the rule change, paving the way for\u00a0NEC<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0conference<\/a>\u00a0approval, which was secured in September 2011. <\/sup>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This made Miliband the first Labour leader to have the authority to pick his own Shadow Cabinet. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0` On 7 October 2011,\u00a0Miliband reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet<\/a>.\u00a0John Denham<\/a>,\u00a0John Healey<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Shaun Woodward<\/a>\u00a0announced that they were stepping down, while\u00a0Meg Hillier<\/a>,\u00a0Ann McKechin<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Baroness Scotland<\/a>\u00a0also left the Shadow Cabinet. Veteran MPs\u00a0Tom Watson<\/a>,\u00a0Jon Trickett<\/a>,\u00a0Stephen Twigg<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Vernon Coaker<\/a>\u00a0were promoted to the Shadow Cabinet, as were several of the 2010 intake, including\u00a0Chuka Umunna<\/a>,\u00a0Margaret Curran<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Rachel Reeves<\/a>, with\u00a0Liz Kendall<\/a>\u00a0and Michael Dugher given the right to attend Shadow Cabinet.\u00a0Lord Wood<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Emily Thornberry<\/a>\u00a0were also made Shadow Cabinet attendees <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 15 May 2012, Miliband appointed\u00a0Owen Smith<\/a>\u00a0to replace\u00a0Peter Hain<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 who retired from frontline politics \u2013 as\u00a0Shadow Welsh Secretary<\/a>, and also promoted\u00a0Jon Cruddas<\/a>\u00a0to the Shadow Cabinet, putting him in charge of overseeing Labour's ongoing policy review with a view to draft Labour's manifesto for the\u00a0next election<\/a>. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0On 4 July 2013, Miliband effectively sacked Tom Watson from the Shadow Cabinet after\u00a0allegations of corruption<\/a>\u00a0over the selection of a parliamentary candidate for\u00a0Falkirk<\/a>. Watson had offered his resignation, but when Miliband was asked by a journalist specifically whether he had sacked Watson, he replied, \"...I said it was right for him to go, yes.\" <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 7 October 2013,\u00a0Miliband reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet<\/a>\u00a0for the third time, saying that this would be the last reshuffle before the general election.[60]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In a move similar to his 2011 reshuffle, several MPs from the 2010 intake were promoted, while more long-serving MPs were moved.\u00a0Tristram Hunt<\/a>\u00a0and Rachel Reeves received promotions, while\u00a0Liam Byrne<\/a>\u00a0and Stephen Twigg were among those demoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miliband conducted a final mini-reshuffle ahead of the 2015 general election<\/a> in November 2014, when Jim Murphy<\/a> resigned as Shadow International Development Secretary to become Leader of the Scottish Labour Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On becoming Leader of the Labour Party on 25 September 2010, Miliband also became Leader of the Opposition. At 40, he was the youngest leader of the party ever. At his first\u00a0Prime Minister's Questions<\/a>\u00a0on 13 October 2010, he raised questions about the government's announced removal of a non-means tested<\/a>\u00a0child benefit<\/a>. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In December, he appointed\u00a0Tom Baldwin<\/a>\u00a0as his director of communications .[62]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 2011 military intervention in Libya, Miliband supported UK military action against\u00a0Muammar Gaddafi<\/a>. Miliband spoke at a large \"March for the Alternative<\/a>\" rally held in London on 26 March 2011 to protest against cuts to public spending, though he was criticised by some for comparing it to the anti-apartheid and American civil rights movements. <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A June 2011 poll result from\u00a0Ipsos MORI<\/a>\u00a0put Labour 2 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives, but Miliband's personal rating was low, being rated as less popular than\u00a0Iain Duncan Smith<\/a>\u00a0at a similar stage in his leadership. The same organisation's polling did find that Miliband's personal ratings in his first full year of leadership were better than\u00a0David Cameron<\/a>'s during his first full year as Conservative leader in 2006. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his first speech of 2012, Miliband said that if Labour won the\u00a02015 general election<\/a>\u00a0times would be difficult economically, but Labour was still the only party capable of delivering \"fairness\". He also said he would tackle \"vested interests\", citing energy and rail companies.[74]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Following the announcement in late January 2012 that the chief executive officer of the nationalised\u00a0Royal Bank of Scotland<\/a>,\u00a0Stephen Hester<\/a>, would receive a bonus worth \u00a3950,000, Miliband called the amount \"disgraceful\", and urged David Cameron to act to prevent the bonus. Cameron refused, saying it was a matter for the RBS board, leading Miliband to announce that Labour would force a Commons vote on whether or not the government should block it. Hester announced that he would forego his bonus, and Miliband said Labour would carry on with a Commons vote regardless, focusing instead on the bonuses of other RBS executives. Following\u00a0George Galloway<\/a>'s unexpected win in the\u00a0March by-election<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Bradford West<\/a>, Miliband announced he would lead an inquiry into the result, saying that it \"could not be dismissed as a one-off\".[77]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2012, in the midst of a debate about the nature of political party funding, Miliband called on David Cameron to institute a \u00a35,000 cap on donations from individuals and organisations to political parties, after it had been suggested that the government favoured a cap of \u00a350,000.[78]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0On 14 July 2012, Miliband became the first Leader of the Labour Party to attend and address the\u00a0Durham Miners' Gala<\/a>\u00a0in 23 years. In the same month, Miliband became the first British politician to be invited to France to meet the new\u00a0French President<\/a>,\u00a0Fran\u00e7ois Hollande<\/a>.[80]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 23 January 2013, Miliband stated that he was against holding a referendum on the UK's membership of the\u00a0European Union<\/a>\u00a0because of the economic uncertainty that it would create. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0On 18 March 2013, Miliband reached a deal with both Cameron and Nick Clegg on new press regulation laws following the\u00a0Leveson Inquiry<\/a>, which he said \"satisfied the demands of protection for victims and freedom of the press\".[82]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0In August 2013, following the\u00a0recall of Parliament<\/a>\u00a0to discuss an\u00a0alleged chemical attack in Syria<\/a>, Miliband announced that Labour would oppose any military intervention on the basis that there was insufficient evidence. David Cameron had been in favour of such action but lost the ensuing vote, making it the first time that a British prime minister had been prevented from instigating military action by parliament since 1956.[83]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Labour conference in September 2013, Miliband highlighted his party's stance on the\u00a0NHS<\/a>\u00a0and announced if elected Labour would abolish the\u00a0bedroom tax<\/a>. The conference included several 'signature' policies, such as strengthening the\u00a0minimum wage<\/a>, freezing business rates, building 200,000 houses a year, lowering the\u00a0voting age<\/a>\u00a0to 16, and the provision of childcare by primary schools between 8\u00a0am and 6\u00a0pm. The policy that attracted the most attention was the commitment to help tackle the 'cost-of-living crisis' by freezing gas and electricity prices until 2017 to give time to 'reset the market' in favour of consumers.\u00a0In January 2014, Miliband extended the concept of reform to include the 'big five' banks, in addition to the 'big six' utility companies, and discussed the impact of the cost-of-living on the 'squeezed middle', saying \"the current cost-of-living crisis is not just about people on\u00a0tax credits<\/a>,\u00a0zero-hour contracts<\/a>\u00a0and the minimum wage. It is about the millions of middle-class families who never dreamt that life would be such a struggle\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout 2014, Miliband changed Labour's policy on\u00a0immigration<\/a>, partly in response to\u00a0UKIP<\/a>'s performance in the European and local elections in May, and the close result in the\u00a0Heywood and Middleton by-election<\/a>\u00a0in October. Miliband committed to increase funding for border checks, tackle exploitation and the undercutting of wages, require employers who recruit abroad to create apprenticeships, and ensure workers in public-facing roles have minimum standards of English. In November 2014, Labour announced plans to require new EU migrants wait two years before claiming benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miliband campaigned in the\u00a0Scottish independence referendum<\/a>\u00a0with the cross-party\u00a0Better Together<\/a>\u00a0campaign, supporting\u00a0Scotland<\/a>'s membership of the United Kingdom. Opinion polls showed solid leads for the 'no' campaign, with a 20 point-lead on 19 August. However, by the end of the month, the lead had fallen to just 6 points, with YouGov analysis showing a big shift in support among Labour supporters. Miliband made an unplanned visit to\u00a0Lanarkshire<\/a>\u00a0to draw a contrast between a Labour and Conservative future for Scotland within the UK. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0A poll on 7 September showed a 2-point lead for the 'yes' campaign, leading to a joint commitment by Miliband, Cameron and Clegg for greater devolution to Scotland through a version of home rule.[89]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The results on 19 September showed victory for the 'no' campaign, 55.3% to 44.7% <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day after the referendum, Cameron raised the issue of 'English votes for English laws<\/a>', with Miliband criticising the move as a simplistic solution to a complex problem, eventually coming out in favour for a constitutional convention to be held after the general election.[91]<\/a><\/sup>[92]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Labour party conference in Manchester on 21\u201324 September occurred days after the Scottish referendum result. Miliband's conference speech was criticised, particularly after he failed to deliver sections on the deficit and immigration, after attempting to deliver the speech without notes.[93]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0At the conference, Miliband pledged to focus on six national goals for Britain until 2025, including boosting pay, apprenticeships and housing; a mansion tax and levy on tobacco companies to fund \u00a32.5 billion a year 'time to care' fund for the NHS; a commitment to raise the minimum wage to \u00a38 or more by 2020; and a promise to lower the voting age to 16 ready for elections in 2016. <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2015, Labour pledged to reverse the privatisation of the railways<\/a> by getting rid of the franchising system, after previously saying that they would allow the public sector to bid for franchises.[96]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

L<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2015 general election and resignation[edit<\/a>]<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"\/<\/a>
Miliband speaking on \"Britain's Place in the World: A Labour Perspective\" at Chatham House<\/a> on 24 April 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On 30 March 2015, the Parliament of the United Kingdom dissolved and\u00a0a general election<\/a>\u00a0was called for 7 May. Miliband began his campaign by launching a \"manifesto for business\", stating that only by voting Labour would the UK's position within the European Union be secure.[106]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Miliband subsequently unveiled five pledges at a rally in Birmingham which would form the focus of a future Labour government, specifically identifying policies on deficit reduction, living standards, the NHS, immigration controls and tuition fees. He included an additional pledge on housing and rent on 27 April.[<\/a><\/sup> On 14 April, Labour launched its full manifesto, which Miliband said was fully funded and would require no additional borrowing \u00a0During this time an online campaign began known as\u00a0Milifandom<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the campaign for the 7 May elections, Miliband insisted that\u00a0David Cameron<\/a>\u00a0should debate him one on one as part of a televised election broadcast <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0in order to highlight differences in policies between the two major parties. This never happened, with the pair instead being interviewed separately by\u00a0Jeremy Paxman<\/a>\u00a0as part of the first major televised political broadcast of the election involving multiple parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite opinion polls leading up to the general election predicting a tight result, Labour decisively lost the\u00a07 May general election<\/a>\u00a0to the Conservatives. Although gaining 22 seats, Labour lost all but one of its MPs in Scotland and ended up with a net loss of 26 seats, failing to win a number of key marginal seats that it had expected to win comfortably. After being returned as MP for\u00a0Doncaster North<\/a>, Miliband stated that it had been a \"difficult and disappointing\" night for Labour. Miliband was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 52.4% and an increased majority of 11,780.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Following David Cameron's success in forming a majority government, Miliband resigned as Leader of the Labour Party on 8 May, with\u00a0Harriet Harman<\/a>\u00a0becoming acting leader while a\u00a0leadership election<\/a>\u00a0was initiated. Jeremy Corbyn<\/a>\u00a0succeeded Miliband as leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backbencher <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a backbencher, Miliband spoke about the need to tackle inequality and in favour of the\u00a0Paris climate change agreement<\/a> \u00a0In May 2016, he appeared on the BBC's\u00a0Question Time<\/a><\/em>, speaking in favour of Remain in the UK's\u00a0EU referendum<\/a> <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and he subsequently campaigned for a Remain vote. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the aftermath of the referendum result, Miliband said that, although he had supported\u00a0Jeremy Corbyn<\/a>\u00a0since his election as leader, he had \"reluctantly reach. \u00a0In the ensuing\u00a0contest<\/a>, Miliband supported leadership challenger\u00a0Owen Smith<\/a>.[124]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Miliband later admitted that he was \"clearly wrong\" to call for Corbyn's resignation. In September 2016, Miliband joined the editorial board of\u00a0The Political Quarterly<\/a><\/em>\u00a0journal, an unremunerated role. <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renewing his previous stance on the issue in 2011, Miliband criticised Rupert Murdoch<\/a>'s bid to takeover telecommunications company Sky<\/a> in December 2016, subsequently supporting an inquiry by Ofcom<\/a>.[128]<\/a><\/sup>[129]<\/a><\/sup>[130]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the snap\u00a02017 general election<\/a>, Miliband was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 60.8% and an increased majority of 14,024. <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the\u00a02019 general election<\/a>, Miliband was again re-elected, seeing his vote share decrease to 38.7% and his majority cut to 2,370. Following the election, it was announced that Miliband would sit on a panel of party figures to overview and investigate the electoral failure. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Return to Shadow Cabinet[edit<\/a>]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On 6 April 2020,\u00a0Keir Starmer<\/a>\u00a0appointed Miliband to his new Shadow Cabinet, after winning the\u00a0contest<\/a>\u00a0to become leader of the Labour Party two days before. Miliband assumed the role of\u00a0Shadow Business Secretary<\/a>\u00a0in the new cabinet <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2020, Miliband faced Prime Minister Boris Johnson<\/a> during a debate on the UK Internal Market Bill<\/a>, in a speech accusing him of \"legislative hooliganism\".[138]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 27 October 2021, Miliband took\u00a0Prime Minister's Questions<\/a>\u00a0after the\u00a0October 2021 budget<\/a>\u00a0on behalf of\u00a0Keir Starmer<\/a>, who had contracted\u00a0COVID-19<\/a>. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miliband's re-appointment to the cabinet also led to the\u00a0New Statesman<\/a>\u00a0naming him the twenty-first most influential British left-wing figure of 2023 <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policies and views <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Miliband is generally seen as being on the soft left<\/a> of the Labour Party.[141]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miliband described himself as a new type of Labour politician, looking to move beyond the divisiveness of Blairism<\/a> and Brownism<\/a>, and calling for an end to the \"factionalism and psychodramas\" of Labour's past. He also repeatedly spoke of the need for a \"new politics\".[142]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal Views<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During the Labour leadership campaign, he described himself as a\u00a0socialist<\/a>, and spoke out against some of the actions of the\u00a0Blair ministry<\/a>, including criticising its record on civil liberties and foreign policy. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Though he was not yet an MP at the time of the 2003 vote, Miliband was a strong critic of the\u00a0Iraq War<\/a>. <\/sup>\u00a0He backed UK military action and intervention in\u00a0Afghanistan<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Libya<\/a>\u00a0respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miliband called for \"responsible capitalism\" when\u00a0Google<\/a>'s\u00a0Eric Schmidt<\/a>\u00a0commented on his corporation's non-payment of tax \u00a0He also supported making the UK's 50% top rate of tax permanent, as well as the institution of a new\u00a0financial transaction tax<\/a>, mutualising\u00a0Northern Rock<\/a>, putting limits on top salaries, scrapping\u00a0tuition fees<\/a>\u00a0in favour of a\u00a0graduate tax<\/a>, implementing a\u00a0living wage policy<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0scrapping of the ID cards policy<\/a>, and spoke in favour of a \"National Care Service<\/a>\". <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miliband worked closely with the think tank\u00a0Policy Network<\/a>\u00a0on the concept of\u00a0predistribution<\/a>\u00a0as a means to tackle what he described as 'the growing crisis in living standards'. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0His announcement that predistribution would become a cornerstone of the UK Labour Party's economic policy was jokingly mocked by Prime Minister David Cameron during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Labour remained officially neutral, he in a personal capacity supported the failed\u00a0\"Yes to AV\" campaign<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Alternative Vote referendum<\/a>\u00a0on 5 May 2011, saying that it would benefit Britain's \"progressive majority\" \u00a0In September 2011, Miliband stated that a future Labour Government would immediately cut the cap on tuition fees for university students from \u00a39,000 per year to \u00a36,000, though he also stated that he remained committed to a graduate tax in the long-run. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Together with Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, Miliband also promoted a \"five-point plan for jobs and growth\" aimed at helping the UK economy, involving extending the bonus tax on banks pioneered by\u00a0Alistair Darling<\/a>, bringing forward planned long-term investment to help reduce unemployment, cutting the rate of\u00a0VAT<\/a>\u00a0from 20% back to 17.5%, cutting VAT on home improvements to 5% for a temporary one-year period, and instigating a one-year\u00a0National Insurance<\/a>\u00a0break to encourage employers to hire more staff. <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Miliband also endorsed the\u00a0Blue Labour<\/a>\u00a0trend in the Labour Party, founded by\u00a0Maurice Glasman<\/a>. This was seen to have influenced his 2011 conference speech, signalling \"predatory and productive capitalism\".[154]<\/a>[155]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miliband is progressive in regard to issues of gender and sexuality. He publicly identifies as a\u00a0feminist<\/a>. In March 2012, Miliband pledged his support for\u00a0same sex marriage<\/a>. As he signed an 'equal marriage pledge', he said, \"I strongly agree gay and lesbian couples should have an equal right to marry and deserve the same recognition from the state and society as anyone else.\" <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2014, while speaking to the\u00a0Labour Friends of Israel<\/a>, Miliband stated that if he became Prime Minister he would seek \"closer ties\" with\u00a0Israel<\/a>\u00a0and opposed the\u00a0boycott of Israeli goods<\/a>, saying that he would \"resolutely oppose the isolation of Israel\" and that nobody in the Labour Party should question Israel's right to exist. ]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0He also stated that, as a Jew and a friend of Israel, he must criticise Israel when necessary, opposing the \"killing of innocent Palestinian civilians\". <\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Miliband criticised Israel for its conduct during the\u00a02014 Israel\u2013Gaza conflict<\/a>. <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the end of his leadership of the Labour Party, Miliband has expressed regret for not having been \"radical enough\" in his manifesto, and has described himself as \"not following the normal route, which is to become more right wing as you get older\", but instead becoming \"more left wing\". <\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 30 April 2019, Miliband joined Caroline Lucas<\/a> and Laura Sandys<\/a> in calling for a Green New Deal<\/a> in the UK.[163]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The leading Jewish member of Kier Starmer's team Edward Samuel Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2010 and 2015. Alongside his brother, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrities"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3629,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627\/revisions\/3629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}