London:
One of the most riveting stories in the upcoming British elections is the sibling rivalry between Labour leader and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his brother Ed Miliband, also cabinet minister for climate change. They are the first siblings to sit in cabinet together since 1938.
It has been a meteoric rise. He was Tony Blair's head of policy at the age of 29. At 41, he was the youngest Foreign Secretary Britain had had in 30 years.
Hillary Clinton was only echoing a popular sentiment amongst British women, when she said she had a crush on him.
"Of course it's always odd to be a Miliband at conferences as I always get confused for my famous elder brother. Guess my low moment was when sky news produced a top trumps pack comparing different politicians. I was quite upset. There were both of us, David and I. He beat me on parliamentary skills and I thought, well that's fine he's been in parliament longer than I. He beat me on charisma but then I thought these guys were really biased as he beat me on looks! (laughter)" says Ed Miliband.
Despite the modesty, the younger brother hasn't done badly at all. A Gordon Brown confidante, he was one of the key leaders at Copenhagen climate change summit and is now in charge of Labour's manifesto for these elections.
"Both are close, get on extremely well but that does not preclude them standing against each other in a leadership contest. David Miliband was a frontrunner as a leader after Gordon brown but because he sort of dithered. Ed has emerged as someone who can represent both left and right in the party and who is therefore has done better in all of this than his brother," says Tony Travers, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Parachuted into safe labour seats, both the brothers have their offices in Whitehall. While the younger one is a close ally of the PM's, Gordon Brown has no love lost for his Foreign secretary based here in the foreign and commonwealth office, precisely so that he's out of the way and cannot challenge his leadership. But given the consistently low popularity ratings of Gordon Brown there is no doubt that both the brothers are in the running to lead the labour party, which could be one of the most interesting stories of this election.
It has been a meteoric rise. He was Tony Blair's head of policy at the age of 29. At 41, he was the youngest Foreign Secretary Britain had had in 30 years.
Hillary Clinton was only echoing a popular sentiment amongst British women, when she said she had a crush on him.
"Of course it's always odd to be a Miliband at conferences as I always get confused for my famous elder brother. Guess my low moment was when sky news produced a top trumps pack comparing different politicians. I was quite upset. There were both of us, David and I. He beat me on parliamentary skills and I thought, well that's fine he's been in parliament longer than I. He beat me on charisma but then I thought these guys were really biased as he beat me on looks! (laughter)" says Ed Miliband.
Despite the modesty, the younger brother hasn't done badly at all. A Gordon Brown confidante, he was one of the key leaders at Copenhagen climate change summit and is now in charge of Labour's manifesto for these elections.
"Both are close, get on extremely well but that does not preclude them standing against each other in a leadership contest. David Miliband was a frontrunner as a leader after Gordon brown but because he sort of dithered. Ed has emerged as someone who can represent both left and right in the party and who is therefore has done better in all of this than his brother," says Tony Travers, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Parachuted into safe labour seats, both the brothers have their offices in Whitehall. While the younger one is a close ally of the PM's, Gordon Brown has no love lost for his Foreign secretary based here in the foreign and commonwealth office, precisely so that he's out of the way and cannot challenge his leadership. But given the consistently low popularity ratings of Gordon Brown there is no doubt that both the brothers are in the running to lead the labour party, which could be one of the most interesting stories of this election.
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