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David Miliband

(1965 - )

David Wright Miliband is a British politician who served in Parliament for the Labour Party from 2001 to 2013.

Miliband (born July 15, 1965) is of Polish Jewish descent and son of the late Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband. He and his younger brother, Ed Miliband, were the first siblings to sit in the Cabinet simultaneously since Lord Edward Stanley, and Oliver Stanley in 1938.

Born in London, Miliband studied at Oxford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and started his career at the Institute for Public Policy Research. At 29, Miliband became Tony Blair's Head of Policy whilst the Labour Party was then in opposition and was a major contributor to Labour's manifesto for the 1997 general election which brought the party to power. Blair made him head of the Prime Minister's Policy Unit from 1997 to 2001, following which Miliband was elected to parliament for the North East England seat of South Shields.

Miliband spent the next several years in various junior ministerial posts in the British Government, including at the Department for Education and Skills, before becoming Environment Secretary. His tenure in this post saw climate change consolidated as a priority for UK policymakers. In June 2007, on the succession of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, Miliband was promoted to Foreign Secretary, becoming the youngest person to hold the position in 30 years.

On May 12, 2010, Miliband announced he would stand for the leadership election of the Labour Party. Despite leading the electoral college votes in the first three rounds, Miliband eventually lost the election to his brother, Ed. He announced in September 2010 that he would quit frontline politics and would not be a part of his brother's shadow cabinet.

In October 2010, Miliband did resign from the shadow cabinet but continued to serve as MP for South Shields. In March 2013, Miliband announced that he would be retiring from politics altogether.

In September 2013, Miliband became the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, overseeing humanitarian aid and development programs in 40 countries around the world.


Sources: Wikipedia; Photo: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: World Economic Forum