From The Mirror:

 

David Miliband is to stun Parliament by stepping down as an MP tomorrow to take up a “dream job” in New York.

 

The former Foreign Secretary - and brother of Labour leader Ed - intends to make the shock announcement tomorrow morning.

 

The Mirror understands he intends to step down with immediate effect, triggering a by-election in May.

 

He is thought to have confided in just a handful of close allies about his decision.

 

A source close to Mr Miliband, who has been MP for South Shields since June 2001, confirmed he would step down tomorrow.

 

“David has landed a dream job in charge of a charity in New York and wants to take it,” said the source.

 

“But it means leaving politics.”

 

It is believed he will take up a senior role with the charity International Rescue with immediate effect.

 

His departure will be seen as a major blow to the right of the Labour Party.

 

But it will be a major boost to his brother Ed who will now no longer have to look over his shoulder at a possible leader in waiting.

 

The dramatic announcement would bring to a close a Parliamentary career which turned on the key battle for the Labour leadership more than two years ago.

 

Now, if only Ed Miliband would step down as party leader, then I'd be able to get behind Labour again.

The story has come up on the BBC website as well now so it looks like it is probably true.

 

I agree with the Mirror comment that it is probably good for Ed. That may have helped David M to make his decision, thinking that it is in Labour's best interest.

 

I thiink Ed M is actually doing a reasonable job. It is difficult for him to get heard atm. There have been plenty of occasions when he might have called for a ministerial resignation but I think it is good thaat he has resisted that temptation. It means that, when there is a particularly strong case for a resignation, he has more of a chance of getting it. Labour need to get across the message that Cameron may be good on telly but he is absolutely clueless as PM. They then need to convince people that despite his faults - in particular the fact that he isn't good on telly - he would be a competent PM. They need to start by having a good go at the Budget and exposing the supposed help to homebuyers as utterly irresponsible. Of curse, their problem with that will be that the Tory press won't give them anything like a far hearing.

Isn't the charity the same name as the Thunderbirds organisation? I guess he'll rope in Ed and few other brothers soon enough and move to Milliband Island to go and save the world...

Ed Miliband is the best competitor out of the main three parties though, so that's why we should back him up! I think that he could be a decent Prime Minister as well.

What are Ed Miliband's policies though? He really needs to start letting people know, particularly with regards to the economy. It's all very well riding the wave of public discontent with Cameron/Osborne and shooting down their policies retrospectively, but he needs to communicate his own or he won't be taken seriously as a leader, just as somebody proficient in the not-exactly-skilled art of getting a cheap laugh out of other politicians' failures.

 

Personally I don't consider him leadership material.

What were the Tories' economic policies two years before the last election? They were saying they would follow Labour's spending plans and then changed their minds when circumstances changed. There is no point in having detailed economic policies two years before you might be implementing them.

I'm not talking about the Tories' economic policies two years before the election, although as you bring it up, does the evidence provided by the current state of the economy not suggest the Tories might have been better served by working out a stronger economic policy in advance? You can't run in 2015 and work out what your economic policy will be according to where the economy is at the moment in time. Analysts exist for a reason, patterns of growth are constantly being determined. My point is that I don't believe Miliband actually has much idea of how to fix the economy. All he and Balls want to do is rag on Osborne for getting it wrong. How about imparting their wisdom on how the Tories might seek to get it right instead?

 

Then again, Ed came up under Gordon Brown so we probably have a fair idea of what his policy is. Spend, spend, spend!

 

Edited March 27, 201312 yr by Jark

We've got a whole bloody five point plan we only spent the last YEAR going on about with policies on how to get the economy going again! There's not much more we can exactly do if people aren't LISTENING!

We've got a whole bloody five point plan we only spent the last YEAR going on about with policies on how to get the economy going again! There's not much more we can exactly do if people aren't LISTENING!

 

There is - bring in a new leader that people will listen to.

I'm not talking about the Tories' economic policies two years before the election, although as you bring it up, does the evidence provided by the current state of the economy not suggest the Tories might have been better served by working out a stronger economic policy in advance? You can't run in 2015 and work out what your economic policy will be according to where the economy is at the moment in time. Analysts exist for a reason, patterns of growth are constantly being determined. My point is that I don't believe Miliband actually has much idea of how to fix the economy. All he and Balls want to do is rag on Osborne for getting it wrong. How about imparting their wisdom on how the Tories might seek to get it right instead?

 

Then again, Ed came up under Gordon Brown so we probably have a fair idea of what his policy is. Spend, spend, spend!

 

For most of the last government's period in office their spending was well within reasonable bounds. Or would you prefer it if they hadn't bothered with new school buildings, hospitals or other such projects? The big problem came in 2008 when tax revenues plummeted far more than anyone had envisaged. Of course, if they had introduced the 50p top rate of tax earlier, that might have helped to reduce the scale of the problem.

There is - bring in a new leader that people will listen to.

If only!

Of course, if they had introduced the 50p top rate of tax earlier, that might have helped to reduce the scale of the problem.

I doubt it. The 50p top rate only brought in a couple of billions at most - it wouldn't have been able to do a thing to cover the revenue collapse from 2008 onwards, especially given the deficit stood at about £30bn in 2007.

I doubt it. The 50p top rate only brought in a couple of billions at most - it wouldn't have been able to do a thing to cover the revenue collapse from 2008 onwards, especially given the deficit stood at about £30bn in 2007.

It only raised a relatively small amount because a lot of the people who should have paid it brought forward their earnings to the previous tax year. Darling gave them the chance to do that by giving them a year's notice. Similarly, Osborne has given them the opportunity toi defer earnings to the next tax year so they can avoid it again.

We've got a whole bloody five point plan we only spent the last YEAR going on about with policies on how to get the economy going again! There's not much more we can exactly do if people aren't LISTENING!

There was a Labour MP on Question Time the other week (pretty sure it was Angela Eagle) who virtually admitted that Labour's economic policy has only come to fruition this year, and previously Labour MPs on QT have completely failed to address the issue of the economy in any detail, so I'd be very surprised if Miliband has had a policy formulated for an entire year. If he has nobody seems to have told his party what it is.

 

There was another minister who acknowledged the five point plan but couldn't actually remember what the five points were.

 

Edited March 27, 201312 yr by Jark

There was a Labour MP on Question Time the other week (pretty sure it was Angela Eagle) who virtually admitted that Labour's economic policy has only come to fruition this year, and previously Labour MPs on QT have completely failed to address the issue of the economy in any detail, so I'd be very surprised if Miliband has had a policy formulated for an entire year. If he has nobody seems to have told his party what it is.

 

There was another minister who acknowledged the five point plan but couldn't actually remember what the five points were.

 

We've had it for a good year and a half, as it goes. In any case, your post doesn't quite make sense - you say you'd be surprised if Miliband had a policy for a year before acknowledging it exists?

There is - bring in a new leader that people will listen to.

Anyone else would have the same right wing press to try and bypass, I don't see how ditching Miliband would help. Unless you're in favour of a joke candidate.

Anyone else would have the same right wing press to try and bypass, I don't see how ditching Miliband would help. Unless you're in favour of a joke candidate.

 

Not at all - I'm probably closer politically to Labour than to any of the other main British parties, but I can't see Labour standing a chance at winning the next election under Ed Miliband. The problem is that there's no obvious candidate within the Shadow Cabinet who could really step up to the mark. Who knows, there might be someone on the backbenches who could give the party the boost it needs.

 

Also on the topic of the right wing press, it's interesting to note that this week, The Telegraph & The Sun have announced that their websites will soon be paywalled. I wonder if that might have much of an impact on their influence, I believe The Telegraph's website is currently the third most populous among the UK press (after The Daily Mail and The Guardian).

Not at all - I'm probably closer politically to Labour than to any of the other main British parties, but I can't see Labour standing a chance at winning the next election under Ed Miliband. The problem is that there's no obvious candidate within the Shadow Cabinet who could really step up to the mark. Who knows, there might be someone on the backbenches who could give the party the boost it needs.

 

Also on the topic of the right wing press, it's interesting to note that this week, The Telegraph & The Sun have announced that their websites will soon be paywalled. I wonder if that might have much of an impact on their influence, I believe The Telegraph's website is currently the third most populous among the UK press (after The Daily Mail and The Guardian).

Talk about bipolar.

 

I didn't mean joke candidate as in someone who would torpedo the party's chances - I was referring to a Boris-type figure, someone whose personality can't be ignored if even they're not up to the task.

It looks like David Miliband hasn't finished his quitting. He's resigned from the board of directors at Sunderland after Paulo DiCanio was appointed manager.

 

To recycle a Twitter joke, when Sunderland said there were looking for someone to strengthen their right wing, they weren't talking about football.

So the South Shields by-election has been scheduled for May 2nd, the same day as the local elections. The candidates are:

 

Karen Allen - Conservative

 

Hugh Annand - Liberal Democrat

 

Lady Dorothy MacBeth Brookes - British National Party

 

Phil Brown - The Independent Socialist Party

 

Thomas Faithful Darwood - Independent

 

Richard Elvin - UK Independence Party

 

Howling Laud Hope - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

 

Ahmed Khan - Independent

 

Emma Lewell-Buck - Labour

 

I'll be keeping a close eye on this election. If I end up moving to Tyne & Wear, one of these people could end up being my MP. I guess Emma Lewell-Buck should be guaranteed the seat, the entire region's a Labour stronghold.