Global General

Britain's Labor party elects Ed Miliband as new leader

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-26 09:24

LONDON - The British Labor party, which was in power for 13 years until election defeat in May this year, Saturday chose Ed Miliband as its new leader.

Former cabinet member Ed Miliband waves after being named the new leader of Britain's Labour Party at their annual conference in Manchester September 25, 2010.[Photo/Agencies]

Ed Miliband triumphed over his older brother David in a tight result, winning by just over 1 percent, taking 50.65 percent of the vote, to his brother's 49.35 percent.

Ed Miliband said in a victory speech at the annual party conference in the northern city of Manchester that he would unite the party and take it forward, "I heard the call for change as I went round the country in the election campaign -- I get it and I understand the need for change -- I know we have to change."

He said his party had failed to understand what voters wanted on wages, immigration, and housing. He also criticized the decision by the last Labor government to back the war in Iraq " which led to an appalling loss of trust for us (the Labor party)".

The Labor party's leadership election process is complicated. It gives one third of the vote to members, one third to trade unions, and the final third to members of parliament (MPs), who are elected lawmakers.

The lowest polling candidates are progressively removed once votes are counted and their votes are redistributed to the others based on second preferences to produce a winner.

Ed Miliband had secured the support of the three largest unions, and this helped him to victory over brother David, who had more support among MPs.

Ed Miliband's strong support from the trade unions saw him to victory, but could create problems for him over the coming years as the unions set themselves on collision course with the new coalition government, which is set to cut the current record public spending deficit of 153 billion pounds (US$ 240 billion) by 111 billion pounds before the next general election in 2015.