26 Sep 2010

Ed Miliband elected UK Labour Party leader

10:05 am on 26 September 2010

Britain's opposition Labour Party has chosen former climate change secretary Ed Miliband as its new leader by a narrow margin over his brother David.

Mr Miliband, 40, succeeds Gordon Brown who resigned after the party lost the election in May.

Ed Miliband beat his older brother, a former foreign secretary, by 50.65% to 49.35% in the ballot of Labour members and trade unionists.

The BBC reports his election was mainly thanks to votes from trade unions, and that David Miliband had been the Labour MPs' preferred candidate .

In his victory speech, Ed Miliband vowed to unify the party, and, while paying tribute to his predecessors Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, added: "We lost the election and we lost it badly. My message to the country is this: I know we lost trust, I know we lost touch, I know we need to change.

"Today a new generation has taken charge of Labour, a new generation that understands the call of change."

Of the other contenders for the leadership, Ed Balls was third, Andy Burnham fourth and Diane Abbott last.