Ed Miliband: Ex-Labour leader now UK foreign secretary

Ed Miliband, a former leader of Britain's centre-left Labour party who quit after losing the 2015 general election, capped a decade-long political rehabilitation with his appointment Monday as foreign secretary.

After several years in the political wilderness following his 2015 resignation, Miliband has staged a gradual comeback, first serving in former prime minister Keir Starmer's shadow cabinet from 2020.

He then became secretary of state for energy security, aiming to deliver the transition towards a net zero economy after Labour's return to power in 2024, holding the post for two years.

His new job -- one of Britain's four so-called great offices of state, alongside the posts of prime minister, finance minister and interior minister -- marks a promotion and high-point in Miliband's revitalised career in government.

A divisive figure dubbed by critics on the right an "eco-zealot" as well as "Red Ed" for his supposed socialist stances, he has also often appeared little-loved within Labour's own fractured ranks. And rumours that he might be named finance minister rattled the markets earlier this month.

Spearheading British diplomacy on the international stage will undoubtedly help bolster his experience and stature, which has been overshadowed at times by his elder brother David Miliband, himself a former foreign secretary.

It also serves as an opportunity to prove his perpetual doubters wrong.

"I'm a pretty resilient guy and I've been underestimated at every turn," Miliband said shortly before quitting as Labour leader.

Born to Jewish immigrant parents -- a Marxist academic father and a campaigning activist mother -- Miliband grew up in a London household where prominent left-wing intellectuals from around the world came to dinner.

Encouraging their sons from an early age to take part in the discussions, their parents appear to have had a big influence on the brothers' subsequent political journeys.

"They taught me most of all that politics can make a difference to people's lives," Ed Miliband told London newspaper The Standard in 2021.

He first became active in student politics at Oxford University and after a stint as a journalist quickly rose through Labour's ranks.

While his brother was serving as foreign secretary and being tipped as a future leader, he served as energy minister and finance ministry advisor in the Labour governments of the 2000s.

But in 2010 Miliband surprised many by entering, and then winning, the contest to succeed Gordon Brown as leader following the party's defeat to the Conservatives after 13 years in power.

David Miliband -- a protege of ex-prime minister Tony Blair -- also stood and was viewed as less left-wing than his younger sibling, and had been seen as the safer candidate.

The challenge was considered by some "an almost biblical act of fratricide", according to Ed Miliband's biographers.

His elder brother eventually relocated to New York to helm the International Rescue Committee and has not returned to British politics.

Miliband led Labour during five years of state-backed austerity unleashed by Conservative prime minister David Cameron in reaction to the 2008 financial crisis.

His tenure was marked by right-wing media focusing on his perceived lack of charisma.

He was mocked for his nasal voice, while a photograph of him awkwardly devouring a bacon sandwich has dogged him for years.

He remained an MP for Doncaster, in northern England, after resigning and kickstarted a partial image makeover as he co-hosted a popular political podcast, "Reasons to Be Cheerful".

A keen fan of football and baseball, he took up cold-water swimming during the Covid lockdowns.

He is married to Justine Thornton, a High Court judge specialised in environmental law, and the couple have two sons.

In government, Miliband has been characterised as a relentless advocate for climate change mitigation measures but has faced extensive negative coverage in Britain's right-leaning newspapers and reportedly irked some unions.

But he has appeared undeterred publicly, and is said to be a big believer in Burnham's agenda of decentralising power.

Miliband has been "the godfather of Andy's return," John McTernan, a former Blair adviser, told Politico this month.

Britain's new foreign secretary "gets that we're in the second quarter of the 21st century and we need new approaches," he added.