CBI can refer to:

Places and installations[link]

• Cape Breton Island, part of Nova Scotia, Canada
• Center for Biomedical Imaging, a research facility of Boston University Medical Center
• Center for Bio-Image Informatics, a research center at the University of California, Santa Barbara
• Central Bukidnon Institute, a secondary school in the Philippines
• China Burma India Theater of World War II
• Community Boating, Inc, a non-profit community boating center on the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts
• Cosmic Background Imager, a telescope located in the Chilean Andes

Radio[link]

• CBI (AM), radio station broadcast in Canada
• CBI-FM, radio station broadcast in Canada

Companies and groups[link]

• Center for the Promotion of Imports, an agency of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland
• Central Bank of India
• Central Bank of Iran
• Central Bank of Iraq
• Central Bank of Ireland
• Central Bureau of Investigation, a federal agency of India
• Charles Babbage Institute, a research center at the University of Minnesota
• Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, a large engineering and construction company
• Commonwealth Builders, Inc., forerunner established in 1934 of the Washington Commonwealth Federation
• Confederation of British Industry, an organisation promoting United Kingdom businesses

Other uses[link]

• California Birth Index, a database on birthrates in California
• Caribbean Basin Initiative, a United States economic recovery program
• College Basketball Invitational, an American college basketball tournament
• College Bowl, an American quiz tournament
• Content-based instruction, an approach to second-language teaching
• California Bureau of Investigation, a fictionalized state police force featured predominantly in the TV series The Mentalist
• California Bureau of Investigation, former name of the California Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation
• computer-based interlocking, for railways, especially in UK

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Narendra Modi નરેન્દ્ર મોદી
Chief Minister of Gujarat
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 October 2001
Governor	Dr. Kamla Beniwal
Preceded by	Keshubhai Patel
Constituency	Maninagar
Personal details
Born	(1950-09-17) 17 September 1950 (age 61) Vadnagar, Gujarat, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Residence	Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
Alma mater	Gujarat University[1]
Religion	Hinduism
Website	Narendra Modi
As of 9 March, 2009 Source: Government of Gujarat

Narendra Damodardas Modi (Gujarati: નરેન્દ્ર મોદી; born 17 September 1950^[1]) is the current Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat. Born in a middle class family in Vadnagar, he was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife Heeraben.^[2] He has been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since childhood also having interest in politics since adolescence. He holds a master's degree in political science. In 1998, he was chosen by L. K. Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to direct the election campaign in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh.

He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in October 2001, promoted to the office at a time when his predecessor Keshubhai Patel had resigned, following the defeat of BJP in the by-elections. His tenure as chief minister of Gujarat began on 7 October 2001, and he is the longest serving Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat.^[3] In July 2007 he became the longest serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2063 days continuously.^[4] He was elected again for a third term^[5] on 23 December 2007 in the state elections, which he had cast as a "referendum on his rule".^[6][7]

Personal life[link]

Modi was born in a middle class family in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of what was then Bombay State, India.^[8] During the Indo-Pak war in the mid sixties, even as a young boy, he volunteered to serve the soldiers in transit at railway stations.^[9] As a young man, he joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student organisation and was involved in the anti-corruption Nav Nirmāṇ ("Reconstruction") Movement. After working as a full time organiser for the organisation, he was later nominated as its representative in the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[10] As a teenager Modi used to run a tea stall with his brother.^[11] Modi completed his schooling in Vadnagar. He earned a masters degree in political science from Gujarat University.^[12]

Early activism and politics[link]

Modi was a pracharak (campaigner) in the RSS during his university years.^[12][13] He took up the challenging task of energising the party cadres in right earnest. In partnership with Shankersinh Vaghela, Modi set about creating a strong cadre base in Gujarat. In the initial period, Vaghela was seen as a mass leader, while Modi was recognised as a master strategist.

The party started gaining political mileage and formed a coalition government at the centre in April 1990. This partnership fell apart within a few months, but the BJP came to power with a two-thirds majority on its own in Gujarat in 1995. During this period, Modi was entrusted with the responsibility of organising two crucial national events, the Somnath to Ayodhya Rath Yatra (a political rally through India on a converted Toyota van) of L.K. Advani and a similar march from Kanyakumari (the southernmost part of India) to Kashmir in the North. After the exit of Shankarsingh Vaghela from the BJP, Keshubhai Patel was made Chief Minister while Narendra Modi was sent to New Delhi as a General Secretary of the Party.

In 1995, Modi was appointed the National Secretary of the party and given the charge of five major states in India. In 1998, he was promoted as the General Secretary (Organization), a post he held until October 2001. In 2001, Narendra Modi was chosen by the party to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat after the removal of chief minister Keshubhai Patel.

Tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat[link]

Personality[link]

Modi is known for leading a frugal lifestyle. He has a personal staff of just three. He is known to be a workaholic Chief Minister and an introvert.^[14] He ordered the demolition of many Hindu temples that were built without proper government sanction which earned him the ire of VHP^[11] He is a crowd puller as a speaker. Modi has also tried to turn his image from an Hindu Nationalist politician to an image of able administrator. He wears business suits and is improving his command over the English language.^[15]

Awards and recognitions[link]

Modi was awarded Gujarat Ratna by Shri Poona Gujarati Bandhu Samaj at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on celebration of centenary year.^[16]

Development of Gujarat[link]

As a Chief Minister, Modi started various 'yojanas' or plans. This includes:

• Panchamrut Yojana,^[17][18][19] a five-pronged strategy for an integrated development of the state,
• Sujalam Sufalam, a scheme to create a grid of water resources in Gujarat in an innovative step towards water conservation and its appropriate utilisation.
• Krishi Mahotsav – agricultural research labs for the land
• Chiranjeevi Yojana – To reduce infant mortality rate
• Matru Vandana – Providing preventive and curative services under the Reproductive and Child Health Programme
• Beti Bachao – Campaign against female infanticide to improve sex ratio
• Jyotigram Yojana – Provide electricity to every village
• Karmayogi Abhiyan – To educate and train government employees
• Kanya Kelavani Yojana – To encourage female literacy and education
• Balbhog Yojana – Midday meal scheme for students to encourage school attendance from poor backgrounds.^[20]

Vibrant Gujarat[link]

Vibrant Gujarat is a biennial Global Investors' Summit held by the Government of Gujarat in Gujarat, India. The event is aimed at bringing together business leaders, investors, corporations, thought leaders, policy and opinion makers; the summit is advertised as a platform to understand and explore business opportunities in the State of Gujarat. the event has been held continuously since 2003.

Gujarat earthquake[link]

The biggest challenge which he had to face when he took over as the Chief Minister, was the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the areas affected by the massive Gujarat Earthquake of January 2001.

Gujarat violence[link]

On 27 February 2002, a train was burned by a Muslim mob in the town of Godhra leading to 59 deaths, most of them Hindu pilgrims and activists returning from the holy city of Ayodhya.^[21] Riots broke out in the state after it was suspected to be caused by Muslims, leading to 1180 deaths, many of them Muslims. Modi administration was accused of inaction over the riots and for encouraging them.^[15] As an aftermath of the riots, there were calls for Modi to resign from his position as chief minister of Gujarat. The opposition parties stalled the national parliament over the issue. Even Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), allies of the BJP, asked for Modi's resignation.^[22][23] Modi submitted his resignation to the Governor and recommended the dissolution of the 10th Gujarat Legislative Assembly.^[24][25] In the following state re-elections the BJP, led by Modi, won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly.

In April 2009, the Supreme Court of India appointed a special team of investigators to look into the role Modi had played in the alleged anti-Muslim conspiracy.^[15] The team was appointed in response to the complaint of zakia Jafri, the widow of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was murdered in the riots.^[26] In December 2010, a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) in its report to the Supreme Court seeking answers pertaining to the Ehsan Jafri case, submitted that they had found no evidence against Narendra Modi.^[27]

However in February 2011, the Times of India reported that a confidential report from the SIT indicted Modi on several counts of alleged complicity in the Gujarat riots of 2002.^[28] Most other sources have noted that the SIT report does not indict Modi for the riots due to lack of evidence.^[29][30] The Indian Express too said the report did not find any Modi involvement in the violence, though it did accuse him of watering down the seriousness of the situation.^[31] According to the Hindu, the report not only found that Modi tried to water down the seriousness of the situation, but Modi also implicitly justified the killings of Muslims, and failed to condemn the attacks on them.^[32] The Bharatiya Janata Party demanded an investigation into the publication of the report, claiming the leak was politically motivated.^[33]

The apex court refused to pass any order on the case and referred it to the Ahmedabad magistrate for a decision.^[34] In April 2012, a Special Investigation Team found absolved Modi of any involvement in the Gulberg massacre, arguably the worst episode of the riots.^[35]. On 7 May 2012, a Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae, Raju Ramachandran observed that Modi can be prosecuted under sections 153 A (1) (a) & (b), 153 B (1), 166 and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code for promoting enmity among different groups during the 2002 Gujarat riots.^[36]. However the amicus report has been criticised by the Special Investigation Team for relying heavily on the testimony of a perjurer^[37].

2007 elections[link]

Modi made a speech at Mangrol in which he justified the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, During the election campaign In response to Sonia Gandhi's speech calling him a "merchant of death",^[38] and referred to Sohrabuddin's killing. For this speech the Election Commission of India, a constitutional body governing election proceedings in India, cautioned Modi as it considered it as indulging in an activity which may aggravate existing differences between different communities.^[39] Modi won the election and continued his post as the Chief Minister Of Gujarat, he won with majority of votes of 122 seats out of 182 total assembly seats.^[40]

Conflicts with Governor Kamla Beniwal[link]

On 25 August 2011 Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal appointed Justice R A Mehta to the post of Lokyukta of Gujarat, a critical anti-corruption post that had been lying vacant since 2003. Justice R A Mehta was recommended for the post by the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in June. Since Governor Beniwal had made this decision without consulting and getting the approval of the chief minister and his council of ministers, the action angered Narendra Modi and his BJP party.^[41]

This marked the beginning of a strained relationship between Modi and the Governor. On 25 September 2011, Narendra Modi accused the Governor of running a parallel government in the state supported by the Congress. He demanded that she be recalled back.^[42] He also later accused her of delaying the progress of bills by not passing them.

The decision of the governor in the appointment of R A Mehta was challenged in the high court by the Modi government. The two member high court bench gave a split verdict on 10 October 2011. Later, a third member upheld the governor's decision in January 2012.^[43]

Foreign visits[link]

As the Chief Minister of the Gujarat State, to attract foreign investment in the state, Narendra Modi has made visits to foreign countries, including China and Singapore.

Narendra Modi made his first China visit in 2007 to invite investors Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit,^[44] and second visit in November 2011. One month after the second visit to China, the Chinese Government released 13 Diamond traders from India jailed by the Shenzhen Customs, which the Chief Minister described as the consequece of his diplomatic efforts and statesmanship.^[45]

In 2005 Narendra Modi was denied of diplomatic visa to the United States, in addition to this visa denial, he was also revoked from his already granted B-1/B-2 visa.^[46]

Sadbhavna Mission[link]

In the late 2011-early 2012 Narandra Modi practised a series of fasts in the name of Sadbhavna Mission. The mission started on 17 September 2011 in Ahmedabad with 3 day fast with a view to strengthen the atmosphere of peace, unity and harmony in the state. He observed total 36 fasts in 26 districts, 8 cities including Ahmedabad.^[47]

Views and opinions[link]

Modi's position on terrorism[link]

On 18 July 2006 Modi delivered a speech criticising Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislations" like the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He asked the Centre to empower states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the blasts in Mumbai.^[48] Quoting Modi:

Narendra Modi has frequently commented that if the BJP came to power at the Centre, they will honour the 2004 Supreme Court judgement to hang Afzal Guru.^[49] Afzal was convicted of terrorism in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack in 2004 by the Supreme Court of India and is in Tihar Jail.^[50]

On account of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, on Thursday 27 November, Narendra Modi held a meeting to discuss waterfront security along the coastline.^[51] The meeting decided to ask the Central government to urgently sanction the following:

• Increase the number of police stations along the coast to 50 (from 10)
• Increase the number of police to 1500 from 250
• 30 modern high-speed surveillance boats.

The 30 coastal boats, under construction at Goa's shipbuilding yard, will have the capacity to run at the speed of 25 nautical miles per hour. These are being manufactured under the Centre's Rs 58-crore grant for coastal security.^[51]

Views on criticism of Modi's governance[link]

In 2003, when Narendra Modi was asked about the conflict of his dreams for Gujarat's future with international criticism of his past activities, Modi said,^[52]

Modi's decision to link Gujarat's violence with the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US drew criticism from some observers, who contrasted it with the then Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani's unpleasant apology for Gujarat in London a year ago.^[52] Modi responded to this criticism by The Guardian,^[52]

See also[link]

• Chief Minister
• Gujarat
• Bhartiya Janata Party

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Narendra Modi

Official

• @narendramodi Official & verified Twitter Account
• Narendra Modi Official website
• Narendra Modi Personal blog

Other

• Profile at BBC News

v t e Current Chief Ministers of Indian states (list)     Andhra Pradesh: Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy Arunachal Pradesh: Nabam Tuki Assam: Tarun Gogoi Bihar: Nitish Kumar Chhattisgarh: Raman Singh Goa: Manohar Parrikar Gujarat: Narendra Modi Haryana: Bhupinder Singh Hooda Himachal Pradesh: Prem Kumar Dhumal Jammu and Kashmir: Omar Abdullah Jharkhand: Arjun Munda Karnataka: D. V. Sadananda Gowda Kerala: Oommen Chandy Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chauhan Maharashtra: Prithviraj Chavan Manipur: Okram Ibobi Singh Meghalaya: Mukul Sangma Mizoram: Pu Lalthanhawla Nagaland: Neiphiu Rio Orissa: Naveen Patnaik Punjab: Parkash Singh Badal Rajasthan: Ashok Gehlot Sikkim: Pawan Kumar Chamling Tamil Nadu: Jayalalithaa Tripura: Manik Sarkar Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav Uttarakhand: Vijay Bahuguna West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee Delhi: Sheila Dikshit Pondicherry: N. Rangaswamy

The Right Honourable Ed Miliband MP
Miliband in August 2010
Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 September 2010
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Deputy	Harriet Harman
Preceded by	Harriet Harman
Leader of the Labour Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 September 2010
Deputy	Harriet Harman
Preceded by	Gordon Brown
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
In office 3 October 2008 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Chris Huhne
Minister for the Cabinet Office Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 28 June 2007 – 3 October 2008
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Hilary Armstrong
Succeeded by	Liam Byrne
Minister for the Third Sector
In office 6 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Phil Hope
Member of Parliament for Doncaster North
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Kevin Hughes
Majority	10,909 (26.3%)
Personal details
Born	Edward Samuel Miliband (1969-12-24) 24 December 1969 (age 42) London, England, UK
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Justine Thornton (m. 2011–present)
Relations	Ralph Miliband (father) David Miliband (brother)
Alma mater	Corpus Christi College, Oxford London School of Economics

Edward Samuel Miliband (born 24 December 1969)^[1] is a British Labour Party politician, currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the South Yorkshire constituency of Doncaster North since 2005 and served in the Cabinet from 2007 to 2010 under Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He and his brother, David Miliband, were the first siblings to sit in the Cabinet simultaneously since Edward, Lord Stanley, and Oliver Stanley in 1938.

Born in London, Miliband graduated from Corpus Christi College, Oxford and the London School of Economics, becoming first a television journalist and then a Labour Party researcher, before rising to become one of Chancellor Gordon Brown's confidants and Chairman of HM Treasury's Council of Economic Advisers.

As Prime Minister, Gordon Brown appointed Miliband as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 28 June 2007. He was subsequently promoted to the new post of Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, a position he held from 3 October 2008 to 11 May 2010. On 25 September 2010, he was elected Leader of the Labour Party.

Background and early life[link]

Born in London, Miliband is the younger son of Polish Jewish immigrants. His mother, Marion Kozak, a human rights campaigner and early CND member, survived the Holocaust thanks to being protected by Roman Catholic Poles.^[2][3][4] His father, Ralph Miliband, was a Belgian-born Marxist academic, who fled with his parents to England during World War II.^[5][3] Due to his father's employment as a teacher, Miliband spent two spells living in Boston, Massachusetts, one year when he was seven, and one junior high school term when he was twelve.^[6]

Miliband was educated at Primrose Hill Primary School, Camden and then Haverstock Comprehensive School in Chalk Farm, North London. He completed his A Levels and was a violinist whilst at school.^[7] As a teenager, he reviewed films and plays on LBC Radio's Young London programme as one of its "Three O'Clock Reviewers", and worked as an intern to Tony Benn.^[8] Miliband read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, taking a Bachelor of Arts, followed by the London School of Economics, where he obtained a Masters in Economics.^[7]

Early political career[link]

Special adviser[link]

Miliband worked as special advisers Gordon Brown from 1997 to 2002.^[9] In 1999, Miliband was involved in the process of building Labour's manifesto for the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections.^[10] Initially doing so in an informal capacity, he was spotted leaving the Scottish Labour Party's headquarters on the night that a key policy meeting was held, involving the Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar and senior party officials, to consider the party's election strategy and details of Labour's manifesto. As a result, Miliband temporarily resigned from his post as a Special Adviser at the Treasury, to work on the Scottish election campaign full-time.^[11] It was reported that part of Miliband's Scottish role was to take charge of Labour's rebuttal operation.^[12]

Harvard[link]

On 25 July 2002, it was announced that Miliband would take a 12-month unpaid sabbatical from the Treasury to be a visiting scholar at the Centre for European Studies of Harvard University for two semesters.^[13] He spent his time at Harvard teaching economics,^[14] and stayed there after September 2003 for an additional semester teaching a course titled "What's Left? The Politics of Social Justice".^[15] During this time, he was granted "access" to Senator John Kerry and reported to Brown on the Presidential hopeful's progress.^[16] Returning to the UK after Christmas, in January 2004 he was appointed Chairman of HM Treasury's Council of Economic Advisers as a replacement for Ed Balls, with specific responsibility for directing the UK's long-term economic planning.^[17]

Member of Parliament[link]

In early 2005, Miliband resigned from the Treasury to stand for election. Kevin Hughes, then the Labour MP for Doncaster North, announced in February of that year that he would be standing down at the next election due to being diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Miliband applied for selection to be the Labour candidate in the safe Labour seat and won, beating off a close challenge from Michael Dugher, then a special advisor to Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.^[18] Gordon Brown visited Doncaster North during the general election campaign to support his former adviser.^[19] Miliband was elected to Parliament on 5 May 2005, with over 50% of the vote and a majority of 12,656. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 23 May, responding to comments made by future Speaker John Bercow.^[20] In Tony Blair's cabinet reshuffle in May 2006, he was made the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, as Minister for the Third Sector, with responsibility for voluntary and charity organisations.^[21][22]

Cabinet[link]

In June 2007, when Brown became Prime Minister, Miliband was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and promoted to the Cabinet.^[23] This meant that he and his brother David Miliband became the first brothers to serve in Cabinet since Edward and Oliver Stanley in 1938.^[24] He was given the task of drafting Labour's manifesto for the next general election.^[25]

On 3 October 2008, Miliband was promoted to Secretary of State for the newly-created Department of Energy and Climate Change^[26] in a Cabinet reshuffle. On 16 October, Miliband announced that the British government would legislate to oblige itself to cut greenhouse emissions by 80% by 2050, rather than the 60% cut in carbon dioxide emissions previously announced.^[27]

Miliband with Richard Lambert, Director of the CBI, at Climate Change Summit 2008

Whilst Secretary of State, Miliband attended the UK premiere of The Age of Stupid, where he was ambushed by actor Pete Postlethwaite, who threatened to return his OBE and vote for any party other than Labour if the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station was given the go-ahead by the government.^[28] A month later, Miliband announced a change to the government's policy on coal, saying that new coal-fired power station would be able to receive government consent unless they could effectively capture and bury 25% of the emissions they produces immediately, with a view to seeing that rise to 100% of emissions by 2025. This, a government source told the Guardian, effectively represented “a complete rewrite of UK energy policy for the future”.^[29]

Miliband represented the UK at the 2009 Copenhagen Summit, from which emerged a global commitment to provide an additional US$10 billion a year to fight the effects of climate change, with an additional $100 billion a year provided by 2020.^[30] The conference was not able to achieve a legally-binding agreement. Miliband accused China of deliberately foiling attempts at a binding agreement; China explicitly denied this, accusing British politicians of engaging in a "political scheme".^[31]

During the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal, Miliband was named by the Daily Telegraph as one of the "saints" of the scandal, due to his claiming one of the lowest amounts of expenses in the House of Commons and submitting no claims that later had to be paid back.^[32]

Leadership of the Labour Party[link]

Leadership election[link]

Miliband giving his first leader's speech at the 2010 Labour Party Conference

Following the formation of the coalition government on 11 May 2010, Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party with immediate effect. In accordance with the Labour constitution, Deputy Leader Harriet Harman took over as Acting Leader and Leader of the Opposition. On 14 May 2010, following his brother's announcement of his own candidacy the day earlier, Miliband announced that he would stand as a candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party.^[33] He launched his campaign during a speech given at a Fabian Society conference at the School of Oriental and African Studies^[34][35] and was nominated by 62 fellow Labour MPs. The other candidates were left-wing backbencher Diane Abbott, Shadow Education Secretary Ed Balls, Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham and his elder brother, Shadow Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

On 23 May, former Labour Leader Neil Kinnock announced that he would endorse Miliband's campaign to become the next Leader, saying that he had "the capacity to inspire people" and that he had "strong values and the ability to 'lift' people".^[36] Other senior Labour figures who backed Miliband included former Deputy Leaders Roy Hattersley and Margaret Beckett. By 9 June, the deadline for entry into the Labour leadership contest, Miliband had been nominated by just over 24% of the Parliamentary Labour Party, double the amount required. By September, Miliband had received the support of six trade unions, including both Unite and UNISON, 151 of the Constituency Labour Parties, three affiliated socialist societies, and half of the Labour MEPs.^[37]

Ed Miliband won the election, the result of which was announced on 25 September 2010, after second, third and fourth preferences votes were counted, with the support of 50.654% of the electoral college, defeating his brother by 1.3%.^[38] In the fourth and final stage of the redistribution of votes after three candidates had been eliminated, Ed Miliband led in the trade unions and affiliated organisations third of the electoral college (19.93% of the total to David's 13.40%), but in both the MPs and MEPs section (15.52% to 17.81%), and Constituency Labour Party section (15.20% to 18.14%), came second. In the final round, Ed Miliband won with a total of 175,519 votes to David's 147,220 votes.^[39]

Leader of the Opposition[link]

Miliband conducting a public Q&A in November 2011

On becoming Leader of the Labour Party on 25 September 2010, Miliband also became Leader of the Opposition. At the age of 40, he was the youngest Labour Leader since World War II.^[40] He had his first Prime Minister's Questions as Labour Leader on 13 October 2010, raising questions about the government's announced removal of a non-means tested child benefit.^[41] During the 2011 military intervention in Libya, Miliband supported UK military action against Colonel Gaddafi.^[42] Miliband spoke at a large "March for the Alternative" rally held in London on 26 March 2011 to protest against cuts to public spending, though he was criticised by some for comparing it to the anti-apartheid and American civil rights movements.^[43][44][45]

A June 2011 poll result from Ipsos MORI found Labour 2 percentage points ahead of the Tories, but Miliband's personal rating was low, being rated as less popular than Iain Duncan Smith at a similar stage in his opposition leadership.^[46] The same organisation's polling did find that Miliband's personal ratings in his first full year of leadership were better than David Cameron's during his first full year as Conservative Leader in 2006 however.^[47]

In July 2011, following the revelation that the News of the World had paid private investigators to hack into the phones of Milly Dowler, as well as the families of murder victims and deceased servicemen, Miliband called for News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks to resign, urged David Cameron to establish a public and judge-led inquiry into the scandal and announced that he would force a Commons vote on whether to block the News International bid for a controlling stake in BSkyB. He also called for the Press Complaints Commission to be abolished – later repeated by Cameron and Nick Clegg – and called into question Cameron's judgement in hiring former News of the World editor Andy Coulson to be his Director of Communications.^[48] Cameron later took the unusual step of saying that the government would back Miliband's motion that the BSkyB bid should be dropped, and an hour before Miliband's motion was due to be debated, News International announced that it would drop it.^[49][50]

Following the riots in England in August 2011, Miliband called for a public inquiry into the events, and insisted that society had "to avoid simplistic answers". The call for a government inquiry was rejected by David Cameron, prompting Miliband to say that he would set up his own.^[51] In a BBC Radio 4 interview shortly after the riots, Miliband spoke of an irresponsibility that not only applied to the people involved in the riots, but "wherever we find it in our society. We've seen in the past few years...MPs' expenses, what happened in the banks". Miliband also stated that Labour did not do enough to tackle moral problems during their 13 years in office.^[52] In December 2011 Miliband appointed Tim Livesey, a former adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to be his full-time Chief of Staff.^[53]

In his first speech of 2012, Miliband said that if Labour won the next general election that the times would be difficult economically, but that Labour was still the only party capable of delivering "fairness". He also said he would tackle "vested interests", citing energy and rail companies.^[54] Following the announcement in late January 2012 that the Chief Executive Officer of the nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland, Stephen Hester, would receive a bonus worth £950,000, Miliband called the amount "disgraceful", and urged David Cameron to act to prevent the bonus. Cameron refused, saying that it was a matter for the RBS board, leading Miliband to announce that Labour would force a Commons vote on whether or not the government should block it. Hester announced that he would forego his bonus, and Miliband said that Labour would carry on with a Commons vote regardless, focussing instead on the bonuses of other RBS executives.^[55][56] Following George Galloway's unexpected win in the March by-election in Bradford West, Miliband announced he would lead an inquiry into the result, saying, it "could not be dismissed as a one-off".^[57] In April 2012, in the midst of a debate about the nature of political party funding, Miliband called on David Cameron to institute a £5,000 cap on donations from individuals and organisations to political parties, after it had been suggested that the government favoured a cap of £50,000.^[58]

Local elections[link]

Miliband's first electoral tests as Labour Leader came in the elections to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and various councils across England, excluding London on 5 May 2011. The results for Labour were described as a "mixed bag", with the party performing well in Wales – falling just one seat short of an overall majority and forming the next Welsh Government on its own – and making large gains from the Liberal Democrats in northern councils, including Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. Results were less encouraging in the south of England however, and results in Scotland were described as a "disaster", with Labour losing nine seats to the SNP, which went on to gain the Parliament's first ever majority.^[59] Miliband commented positively in regard to the results and said that following the poor showings in Scotland "lessons must still be learnt".^[59][60]

Miliband launched Labour's campaign for the 2012 local elections with a speech in Birmingham, accusing the government of "betrayal", and claiming that it "lacked the values" that Britain needed.^[61] The results for Labour were described as a "big success", with the party building on its performance the previous year in the north of England and Wales, consolidating its position in northern cities and winning control of places such as Cardiff and Swansea.^[62] Labour also performed well in the Midlands and South of England, winning control of a number of councils including Birmingham, Norwich, Plymouth and Southampton.^[62] Labour were less successful in Scotland than England and Wales, but results were nevertheless encouraging, as Labour were able to retain control of Glasgow despite predictions that they would not.^[62] Overall, Labour gained over 800 councillors and control of 22 councils.^[62]

Shadow Cabinet appointments[link]

The first election to the Shadow Cabinet that took place under Miliband's leadership was on 7 October 2010. Ending days of speculation, David Miliband announced that he would not seek election to the Shadow Cabinet on 29 September, the day nominations closed, saying he wanted to avoid "constant comparison" with his brother Ed.^[63] The three other defeated candidates for the Labour leadership all stood in the election, though Diane Abbott failed to win enough votes to gain a place. Following the election, Miliband unveiled his Shadow Cabinet on 8 October 2010. Amongst others he appointed Alan Johnson as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Yvette Cooper was chosen as Shadow Foreign Secretary, and both defeated Labour leadership candidates Ed Balls and Andy Burnham were given senior roles, becoming Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Education Secretary respectively. Burnham was additionally given responsibility for overseeing Labour's election co-ordination. Sadiq Khan, who managed Miliband's successful leadership campaign, was appointed Shadow Justice Secretary and Shadow Lord Chancellor, and continuing Deputy Leader Harriet Harman continued to shadow Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, as well as being made Shadow International Development Secretary.^[64] Alan Johnson would later resign from his position, stepping down for "personal reasons" on 20 January 2011, necessitating Miliband's first reshuffle, in which he made Balls Shadow Chancellor, Cooper Shadow Home Secretary and Douglas Alexander Shadow Foreign Secretary.^[65]

On 24 June 2011, it was reported that Miliband was seeking to change the decades-old rule that Labour's Shadow Cabinet would be elected every two years, instead wanting to adopt a system where he alone had the authority to select its members. Miliband later confirmed the story, claiming that the rule represented "a legacy of Labour's past in opposition".^[66] On 5 July, Labour MPs voted overwhelmingly to back the rule change, paving the way for NEC and Conference approval, which was attained in September 2011.^[67] This allows Miliband to be the first Leader of the Labour Party to have the authority to pick his own Shadow Cabinet.^[68]

On 7 October 2011, Miliband reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet. John Denham, John Healey and Shaun Woodward announced that they were stepping down, whilst Meg Hillier, Ann McKechin and Baroness Scotland also left the Shadow Cabinet. Veteran MPs Tom Watson, Jon Trickett, Stephen Twigg and Vernon Coaker were promoted to the Shadow Cabinet, as were several of the 2010 intake, including Chuka Umunna, Margaret Curran and Rachel Reeves, with Liz Kendall and Michael Dugher given the right to attend Shadow Cabinet. Lord Wood and Emily Thornberry were also made Shadow Cabinet attendees.^[69]

On 15 May 2012, Miliband appointed Owen Smith to replace Peter Hain – who retired from frontline politics – as Shadow Welsh Secretary, and also promoted Jon Cruddas to the Shadow Cabinet, putting him in charge of overseeing Labour's ongoing policy review with a view to draft Labour's manifesto for the next election.^[70]

Policies and views[link]

Self-description of views[link]

Miliband speaking at the 2007 Labour
Party Conference

Miliband has described himself as a new type of Labour politician, looking to move beyond the divisiveness of Blairism and Brownism, and calling for an end to the "factionalism and psychodramas" of Labour's past. He has also repeatedly spoken of the requirement for a "new politics".^[71] During the Labour leadership campaign, he described himself as a socialist, and has spoken out against some of the actions of the Blair Government, including criticising its record on civil liberties and stating that he would not have backed the Iraq War.^[72] He has also made calls for the UK to adopt a "capitalism that works for the people".^[73] Though he wasn't in Parliament at the time of the 2003 vote, he remains a strong critic of the Iraq War.^[74] He has, however, backed UK military action and intervention in Afghanistan and Libya respectively. He also backs same-sex marriage, supports making the UK's 50p top rate of tax permanent, as well as the institution of a new financial transaction tax, mutualising Northern Rock, putting limits on top salaries, scrapping tuition fees in favour of a graduate tax, implementing a living wage policy and the scrapping of the ID cards policy, and has spoken in favour of a "National Care Service".^[75][76]

Though Labour remained officially neutral, he in a personal capacity supported the ultimately unsuccessful "Yes to AV" campaign in the Alternative Vote referendum on 5 May 2011, saying that it would benefit Britain's "progressive majority".^[77][78] In September 2011, Miliband stated that a future Labour Government would immediately cut the cap on tuition fees for university students from £9,000 per year to £6,000, though he also stated that he remained committed to a graduate tax in the long-run.^[79] Together with Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, Miliband has also promoted a "five-point plan for jobs and growth" aimed at helping the UK economy, involving extending the bonus tax on banks pioneered by Alistair Darling, bringing forward planned long-term investment to help reduce unemployment, cutting the rate of VAT from 20% back to 17.5%, cutting VAT on home improvements to 5% for a temporary one year period, and instigating a one year national insurance break to encourage employers to hire more employees.^[80] Miliband has also endorsed the Blue Labour trend in the Labour Party, which was founded by Maurice Glasman . Blue Labour talks about family and friendships at the heart of society, rather than just material wealth, it also offers a very strong critique of the free-market as well as the big state. This was seen to have influenced his 2011 Conference Speech, signalling "predatory and productive capitalism".^[81][82]

In March 2012 Miliband pledged his support for same sex marriage. As he signed an equal marriage pledge, he said, "I strongly agree gay and lesbian couples should have an equal right to marry and deserve the same recognition from the state and society as anyone else."^[83]

Comments on other politicians[link]

Miliband has criticised Conservative Leader and Prime Minister David Cameron for "sacrificing everything on the altar of deficit reduction", and has accused him of being guilty of practising "old politics", citing alleged broken promises on areas such as crime, policing, bank bonuses, and child benefit.^[84]

Miliband has also been particularly critical of Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg following the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement, accusing him of "betrayal" and of "selling-out" his party's voters. He has also stated that he would demand the resignation of Nick Clegg as a precursor to any future Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition.^[85] In the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum, Miliband refused to share a platform with Clegg, stating that he had become "too toxic" a brand, and that he would harm the "Yes to AV" campaign. He did, however, share platforms during the campaign with former Liberal Democrat Leaders Lord Ashdown and Charles Kennedy, as well as current Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Simon Hughes, the Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas and Business Secretary Vince Cable, among others.^[86] Since becoming Labour Leader, Miliband has made a number of speeches aimed at winning over disaffected Liberal Democrats, identifying a difference between the "Orange Book" Lib Dems who were closer to the Conservatives and Lib Dems who were on the centre-left, offering the latter a role in helping Labour's policy review.^[84]

Miliband has previously spoken positively of his brother David, praising his record as Foreign Secretary, and saying that "his door was always open" following David's decision not to stand for the Shadow Cabinet in 2010.^[87] When asked to choose the greatest British Prime Minister, Miliband answered with Labour's post-war Prime Minister and longest-serving Leader, Clement Attlee.^[88] He has also spoken positively of his two immediate predecessors as Labour Leader, former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, praising their leadership and records in government.^[89]

Personal life[link]

Miliband is married to Justine Thornton, a Cambridge-educated barrister.^[90] The pair met in 2002 and lived together in North London, before becoming engaged in March 2010.^[91][92] They have two sons, born 2009 and 2010.^[93] Miliband is Jewish, though not religious.^[94][95] After marrying Thornton in a civil ceremony on 27 May 2011, he paid tribute to his Jewish heritage by following the tradition of breaking a glass.^[96][97] Miliband wrote: "Like many others from Holocaust families, I have a paradoxical relationship with this history. On one level I feel intimately connected with it – this happened to my parents and grandparents. On another, it feels like a totally different world."^[98]

Styles[link]

• Ed Miliband (1969–2005)
• Ed Miliband MP (2005–2007)
• The Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP (2007–present)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Hasan, Mehdi, Macintyre, James (2011) "Ed: The Milibands and the making of a Labour leader" Biteback, ISBN 1-84954-102-7

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ed Miliband

• Ed Miliband, MP for Doncaster North official constituency site
• Ed Miliband at Labour.org.uk
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted
• Ed Miliband collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Ed Miliband collected news and commentary at The Telegraph