As Ed Miliband took charge as the U.K’s new Foreign Secretary, officially the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, on July 20, he stated that international development and tackling the climate crisis would be the core priorities of the U.K’s foreign policy under him. “We will work with others on tackling the climate crisis, strengthening our partnerships for international development, and reforming our international institutions so they deliver for all countries, including the world’s poorest people,” Mr. Miliband wrote on X.

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Under the previous Labour government led by Keir Starmer, Mr. Miliband held the position of Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. He had previously been the Energy Secretary under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2008 to 2010. In that short stint, Mr. Miliband strengthened the 2008 Climate Change Act and implemented the U.K. Low Carbon Transition Plan, which was the country’s first economy-wide decarbonisation strategy.

After taking on the role again in 2024 under Mr. Starmer, Mr. Miliband oversaw the implementation of various policies that backed the U.K’s commitment to renewable energy. He established the Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company, to expand and accelerate homegrown clean energy production and deployment.

He also laid out the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, which aims to reduce the U.K’s dependency on volatile fossil fuel markets, especially in light of the Ukraine war, by “harnessing the power of Britain’s natural resources so that we can protect working people from the ravages of the global energy market”.

One of his very first moves as Foreign Secretary was to visit Spain and France, the two countries which are now dealing with devastating wildfire disasters. After Mr. Miliband met with Spain’s Foreign Minister, both governments released a joint statement which acknowledged climate change as a global challenge and detailed that these “summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening our way of life.”

Seasoned politician

Mr. Miliband is the son of Polish Jewish refugees who came to the U.K. fleeing the Nazis during the Second World War. He started his career in TV journalism before entering politics. He was recruited as a speechwriter by then Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Harriet Harman, in 1993, and climbed through the ranks to work with Gordon Brown. He stood for elections for the first time in 2005, and attained his first Cabinet position under Mr. Brown in 2007.

His older brother, David Wright Miliband, a former labour party MP, had also, coincidentally, served as the Foreign Secretary in the Brown Cabinet from 2007 to 2010. Both of them ran against each other for the post of Labour Party leader in 2010 after Mr. Brown resigned. The race was eventually won by the junior Miliband.

One of the prominent reforms that Ed Miliband made as Labour Party leader from 2010 to 2015 was to abolish the electoral college within the party, and make it a ‘one member, one vote’ system. He also sought to unify the party, under the campaign ‘One Nation Labour’, as one working for the country and its people as a whole rather than for sectional interest groups.

Mr. Miliband was once one of the biggest critics of U.S. President Donald Trump. After Mr. Trump’s election as President in 2016, Mr. Miliband had remarked that he had “lowered the bar for idiocy.” However, in his statement after his appointment as Foreign Secretary, Mr. Miliband affirmed that he would “nurture our strong, enduring and essential alliance with the United States”.

Rebuilding ties with the EU, post- Brexit, is also a distinct challenge for Mr. Miliband. “Britain’s national economic and security interests are served by having a stronger relationship with our European allies,” Mr. Miliband said in his statement.

Domestically, the immediate challenge seems to be the shift in Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s stance on new drilling licences for oil and gas in the North Sea. As the U.K. suffers from droughts and heatwaves, Mr. Burnham has hinted at taking a “pragmatic approach” on renewed drilling licences and has said that the government cannot ignore the potential energy resources the North Sea holds. These comments came after Mr. Trump said that Mr. Burnham would “open North Sea oil”, in a telephonic conversation between the two premiers.

Mr. Miliband has vociferously opposed renewed drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea as it would delay the transition to clean energy. He has also argued that since North Sea energy is sold on the international market, domestic consumers would not see much of a reduction in their energy bills. If Mr. Burnham goes ahead with allowing drilling in the North Sea, Mr. Miliband and he could potentially be at loggerheads.

Published – August 02, 2026 02:15 am IST

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer handed in his resignation to Britain’s monarch, King Charles III, to make way for his successor, former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who was elected party leader without contest on Friday (July 17, 2026) and became Britain’s seventh Prime Minister in just over a decade.

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Mr. Starmer made history two years ago when he led the Labour Party — which had suffered its worst defeat in decades in 2019 — to one of the largest victories in modern times. The party took power from the Conservatives after more than 14 years. On Monday (July 20, 2026), he made history again, but this time for becoming the U.K.’s shortest-serving Labour Prime Minister in modern history.

“I go with good grace, I go with a smile, and I go proud of everything that we have achieved,” Mr. Starmer said in brief remarks outside on Downing Street, as he wished his successor “every success”.

The outgoing Prime Minister’s supporters and members of his administration – including Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and London’s mayor Sadiq Khan — had gathered outside the black door marked ‘No.10’ to bid farewell to Mr. Starmer and his wife Victoria, who then proceeded to Buckingham Palace to meet with the King.

Mr. Starmer, a centrist, struggled to hold Labour together since 2024, with internecine battles growing over policy differences ranging from welfare spending to Labour not taking a strong enough stance against Israel for its killing of civilians in Gaza.

Mr. Starmer’s credibility within the party took a further hit around his appointment of a controversial U.S. envoy and the resignation of several of his key staffers. His relationship with union leaders began to sour when he was still Leader of the Opposition, after he sacked an MP who had made an unauthorised media appearance alongside rail workers ona picket line. These ties frayed further despite his government passing the Employment Rights Acts 2025 to strengthen certain rights for workers. For instance, Labour lost support among energy workers over net-zero policies.

Reports of his managerial style within the party and the Cabinet also cost Mr. Starmer support from his colleagues. The final blows to Mr Starmer’s position came after Labour lost a crucial byelection to the Greens in the north west of England this year, followed by a major defeat to Reform in English council elections and losses to other parties in the Welsh and Scottish Assembly elections in May.

Mr. Starmer was given an emotional farewell during the weekly parliamentary Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) last week, with colleagues and Opposition leaders praising him. In speeches, social media posts and interviews, Mr. Starmer and some of his colleagues — including Mr. Burnham — have sought in recent days to clearly articulate the outgoing Prime Minister’s achievements as a means to give Mr. Starmer’s exit dignity and order.

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The message has included Mr. Starmer being responsible for Labour’s return from the political wilderness in 2024, actions to tackle child poverty in the U.K. such as the two-child benefit cap, strengthening workers’ and tenants’ rights, cutting wait times for medical appointments in the public healthcare system, and his support for Ukraine.

In his farewell address, Mr. Starmer said Britain’s reputation on the world stage had “been greatly enhanced”.

“We face a world now where our enemies will stop at nothing to divide us, because of our values, our freedom, our decency, and frankly, because of our unflinching resolve towards the brave people of Ukraine,” Mr. Starmer said, without naming Russia.

The outgoing Prime Minister had visited both Kyiv and Paris during his last week in office, receiving one of France’s highest national awards, the Légion d’Honneur, from French President Emmanuel Macron for his work in working with France to enhance European security. Mr. Starmer had launched a “reset” of the U.K.’s relations with the European Union following the country’s exit from the bloc under the Conservatives in 2016. Last week, a trade deal with India – talks for which began under the Conservatives – came into force.

As he returned to the backbenches, Mr. Starmer had fought to stay on in post —  including by opposing Mr. Burnham’s attempts to contest a byelection in February. However, when a colleague vacated the Makerfield parliamentary seat so Mr. Burnham could contest it, Labour’s leadership team, including Mr. Starmer were compelled to permit it. Mr. Burnham won that election on June 18 and returned to Westminster.

At PMQs last week, Mr Starmer said he “wholeheartedly” supported his successor. Asked what advice he would give the incoming Prime Minister,  Mr. Starmer had said that he would provide counsel “privately, when asked, not publicly, when not asked”.