David Miliband Hints At A Return To Politics
Ed Miliband's brother, a former foreign secretary, suggests his job as head of an NGO is good experience for a future in politics.
Saturday 13 December 2014 04:53, UK
David Miliband has hinted he is intending to return to front line politics after a hiatus which followed his brother winning the Labour leadership.
The former foreign secretary has said he "passionately" wants Labour to win the general election and said his brother Ed would make a good prime minister.
He said the current Labour leader has "the clarity, the vision, the determination".
When the Financial Times asked him about his own ambitions, he suggested the experience he has gained in his current job as head of NGO International Rescue Committee in New York could be useful for any future political career.
He told the FT: "Tony Blair and John Major have said they wish they'd done their post premiership jobs before they became prime minister."
But when he was asked whether his job in particular was one that was good to have before taking up the premiership he said: "That's not the way I conceived it."
The paper asked him who he thought was going to win the 2015 general election. He said: "I passionately want Labour to win - and Ed to win."
Questioned if his brother would make a good prime minister, he told the paper: "Of course. I would know that better than most."
Asked about his brother's qualities, Mr Miliband said: "What I would say is that the clarity, the vision, the determination, those are all important qualities."
There has been an intense period of scrutiny of Ed Miliband recently, with deep unrest among the ranks of backbench MPs about his performance as leader.
Last month, Tony Blair said he thought Mr Miliband was "robust enough" to deal with the doubts over his leadership, and offered his "full support".
Meanwhile, Mr Miliband insisted Ed had the "resilience" to cope with the criticism he has faced and insisted that people's belief in Labour's values will see them win the general election.