Two challengers emerging to tackle Miliband
By politics.co.uk staff
David Miliband may face at least two rivals for the Labour leadership – including his brother, according to media reports.
Ed Balls, former children’s secretary, is said to be considering his bid in “due course”, according to the Times.
Yesterday Mr Balls said Labour needs a “proper debate” about why it lost the election.
He said: ”I’m obviously talking to people but I don’t want to jump to any quick conclusions.”
The Times reports that the shadow education secretary offered to abandon his bid in order to support a challenge by his wife, Yvette Cooper. It says she has decided that she will not put herself forward because she has three young children.
Another Ed, Ed Miliband, is also said by the Sun to be preparing to challenge his brother for the leader’s job.
The paper quotes a friend of Mr Miliband, the former energy secretary, as saying: “There is a distinct difference between David and Ed and they have two different visions of where the party goes from here.”
Ex foreign secretary David Miliband, the elder of the two brothers, announced he will stand earlier this week.
He will launch his campaign officially in his South Shields constituency next week and is embarking on a ‘conversation tour’ of constituencies Labour narrowly won in – or lost outright.
He has said he welcomes a challenge from his brother and that “brotherly love outlives politics, because family is more important than politics”.
He also said that his mother would stay neutral during the leadership campaign.
