When David Miliband was last asked whether he could join the Labour shadow cabinet before the next election, he replied: “You never know”. Today’s Times (£) suggests that the former foreign secretary, who guest-edited the NS last year, “is beginning to give serious thought to a return to the front line.” The paper reports that “an emerging scenario would see him return to the Labour front bench next spring.”
The return of the elder Miliband was originally seen as a means of shoring up support for Ed among the party’s Blairites, but Miliband’s recent political successes (the Budget, his “one nation” conference speech, the Corby by-election) mean this is no longer a factor. He would now be able to bring his brother back from a position of strength. The return of the former foreign secretary would add heft to a shadow cabinet that is short of big hitters. Since retiring to the backbenches, Miliband’s interventions – on the economy, on the NHS, on multiculturalism and on the crisis of the European centre-left – have been among the most impressive from any Labour MP.
The question remains “what job would he do?” After Ed Balls revealed that Ed Miliband had refused to guarantee his position, the Times reminds us that the Labour leader has twice sounded out his brother about becoming shadow chancellor, once before appointing Alan Johnson and once before appointing Balls. However, it is hard to see Miliband moving Balls, whose stock remains high, before the next election. Having served as foreign secretary for three years, Miliband will have no desire to shadow William Hague (a brief Douglas Alexander has performed admirably in). More likely is his return in some election campaign role.
While the Tories now rightly recognise that they underestimated Ed Miliband, the return of David, whom many admire, would further unsettle them. For this reason, it is a weapon that Labour may well deploy in 2014.
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