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Ed Miliband, aged 40, was elected leader of the Labour party by 50.65 per cent of the vote, to 49.35 per cent for his brother David, aged 45. Ed Miliband had gained 15.522 per cent from MPs, 15.198
from party members — both lower figures than his brother, but 19.934 from unions. His speech to the Labour party conference used the words ‘new generation’ 15 times but invoked
without apparent irony ‘the optimism of Harold Wilson and the white heat of technology’. David Miliband repeatedly called his brother ‘special’, but, during the passage in
the speech disowning the Iraq war, he said to Harriet Harman next to him: ‘You voted for it. Why are you clapping?’
The International Monetary Fund said the British economy was ‘on the mend’ and described the coalition government’s plans to cut spending as ‘essential’.
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