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| Britain |
| Ed Miliband crowned new leader of Labour Party |
| 2010-09-26 |
| [Pak Daily Times] Former climate change minister Ed Miliband was elected the new leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party on Saturday, beating his older brother David in a knife-edge race. After a five-month contest, Ed Miliband won by 50.65 percent to 49.35 percent for David, the former foreign minister, who led until the final days. The left-leaning 40-year-old faces a battle to reshape the centre-left party of former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, which suffered a heavy defeat in the general election in May after 13 years in power. Ed Miliband enjoyed a last-minute surge after a campaign which reached out to Labour's traditional left-wing supporters. As soon as the result was announced to Labour party delegates gathered in a conference hall in Manchester, northwest England, David Miliband jumped to his feet and embraced his brother as huge cheers rang out. Ed Miliband told party members that a new generation had taken over and was hungry for the fight against Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government. "Today's election turns the page because a new generation has stepped forward to serve our party and in time I hope to serve our country. Today the work of the new generation begins," Miliband said. He added: "I am proud of the leadership of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown but we lost the election, and we lost it badly. "And my message to the country is this--I know we lost trust, I know we lost touch, I know we need to change." The leadership contest was triggered in May when Brown resigned following the election defeat. David Miliband was until very recently the frontrunner to win the ballot of Labour lawmakers, party members and trade unionists. But after a surprise boost in support, his sibling Ed, formerly part of Brown's inner circle, suddenly surged to the front. The younger Miliband also beat competition from former education secretary Ed Balls, ex-health secretary Andy Burnham and leftwing outsider Diane Abbott. ED Miliband only became a member of parliament in 2005 and held the post of secretary of state for energy and climate change in the last government, becoming a vocal supporter of moves to curb global warming. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 PAKISANI DEFENCE FORUM [UK's LIAM FOX to US SecDef GATES] BRITAIN TELLS US "WE CANNOT FIGHT ANOTHER AFGHANISTAN". UK's MOD budget to shrink or decrease by 20% due to Treasury-imposed cuts. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-09-26 21:50 |
| #2 Bulldog. Al BBC will protect Ed M from difficult questions. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2010-09-26 11:50 |
| #1 Labour's opponents feared a David Miliband-led Labour party more than an Ed-led one, but Ed's something of an unknown quantity to most. He is a bit of a strange, detached-seeming character. It will be very interesting to see how he performs at Prime Minister's Questions, on TV etc, as opposition leader. Also, how he deals with the opinion many will hold now: that he owes his position to union members' votes - union members who were corralled by the union chiefs. In the months and years ahead, as gov't cuts back on spending and there is the inevitable public sector 'industrial' action, those people will expect Ed to be at the head of the resistance, supporting strikes etc. If he does, he risks getting Labour re-branded as far-left and irresponsible; if he doesn't things could turn very nasty for him within his own party. His brother, or another Labour heavyweight, could end up positioning themselves as the voice of the moderate opposition, and risk tearing Labour in half. Of course, all that assumes the Con/Dem coalition remains in power. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2010-09-26 05:40 |