David Miliband may still run for leader in future

Dec 13 2010 by Andy Hughes, The Journal

He said: “I have a burning passion for the Labour Party to be in Government. I’ve never been one of those politicians who thinks about personal goals and I don’t think about my personal career path.

“I have no plans to return to front line politics – at the moment that is.

“For now, I’m doing what’s best for the party and leaving the field open for Ed to lead the party.

“I’ve got to admit I wish the leadership campaign had gone differently, but who knows what will happen in the future?”

He added: “I think Ed’s done well. It’s a very difficult job being the leader of the opposition, especially in the first year of a Parliament, but I don’t wish to give a running commentary. In the end, it is the people who decide.”

Asked what happens next, Mr Miliband said: “I see 2010 as the year Labour lost power, and we should reflect on that, but in 2011 the North East has got to find its voice because we have no representatives in Government and I fear the region could return to the wilderness under the coalition. We cannot let this happen and this is what I’m dedicated to now.

“The North East does not appear in the thinking and the actions of the Government. If the coalition carries on making the decisions they are making, the North East could go back to the dark days of the 1980s.”

Mr Miliband says he made the right decision in choosing not to serve in the shadow cabinet. He said: “It would have been a distraction and there would have been a perpetual comparison. It is up to Ed to lead the party in the way he sees right.

“Of course, it was gutting to lose the leadership election, but I’m proud of the campaign I ran and I’m lucky I have the rock of my wife and the inspiration of my children to fall back on.”

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