Ed Miliband Edges Brother to Take Over Labour Party

40-year-old replaces former Britain PM Gordon Brown
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 25, 2010 12:07 PM CDT
Ed Miliband Edges Brother to Take Over Labour Party
Ed Miliband, newly-elected leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, waves to members of his party following the announcement.   (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Britain's opposition Labour Party elected young lawmaker Ed Miliband as its new leader today after he narrowly defeated his older and better-known brother in a contest to replace former prime minister Gordon Brown. Miliband, the 40-year-old ex-climate change secretary, squeaked by David Miliband, the 45-year-old former foreign secretary, in the ballot. "Today, a new generation has taken charge of Labour, a new generation that understands the call of change," said Miliband, who also saluted his brother.

"David, I love you so much as a brother and I have such extraordinary respect for the campaign that you ran," he said. "You taught us the most important lesson, which is we can be a party which reaches out to the community and we can also be a serious party of government again." He replaces Brown, who stepped down in May after Labour came in second in a national election and was removed from office after 13 years. In his victory speech, Miliband said the 2003 Iraq invasion had dented trust in the Labour Party, and he pledged to restore the public's faith. The Guardian has a profile here.
(More Ed Miliband stories.)

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