New British opposition leader marks out his ground
0 
This could cause problems for Ed, who is already being portrayed in some parts of the media as being under union control.
He was firm to point out in an interview with the BBC on Sunday when asked if he was the union's man that "I'm nobody's man, I'm my own man. I'm very, very clear on that."
There are 12 unions whose members voted for the Labor leadership, and majorities in only five of them voted for Ed. These were, however, the five largest unions.
Miliband appealed for the unions to behave responsibly. "We've got to have maturity from the trade union movement -- we've got to have responsibility," he said.
It remains to be seen if he will be able to influence the unions, or if they are determined to carry out strikes that will prove unpopular with the electorate and cause Labor electoral harm.
New Generation
Miliband, aged 40, is the youngest of Labor's ten leaders since the Second World War and although he is younger than his predecessor but one, Tony Blair, who was elected leader at 41, he has had more government experience.
Blair had no experience in government when he was elected, whereas Miliband was a government minister for three years and a Cabinet member for just under two years. If Miliband wins the next general election, scheduled for 2015, he will be 45, older than Blair, who first took office when he was 43.
For parochial British politics, Miliband also represents a significant change. He represents the end of New Labor, the rebranding and redirecting of the Labor party away from its socialist roots which began in 1994 under leader Tony Blair.
That redirection, and the personal antagonism between Blair and his successor Gordon Brown were the defining characteristics of the New Labor era.
Miliband declared Blair's New Labor as dead. "The era of New Labor has passed," he told the BBC.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments