The battle for the leadership of Britain’s Labour Party ended on September 25. Five candidates competed for the top job, but it turned out to be a tale of two brothers. Victory went to Ed Miliband, 40, with his elder brother David, 45, coming a close second. Ed’s Miliband’s job will now be to try to lead his party back into power and oppose Prime Minister David Cameron.
The two Milibands were both ministers in the Gordon Brown government. David Miliband, as Foreign Secretary, held the third most important post in UK politics. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described him as “vibrant and attractive”. Ed, who had a lesser role in government as Minister of Climate Change, was valued for his contribution to policy discussions and for his performance at the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change last December.
The Miliband brothers were born to political parents. Their father, Ralph, was a Marxist scholar. He came to Britain from Belgium in 1940, fleeing the Nazis. Ralph Miliband was buried beside Karl Marx in London’s Highgate Cemetery. His wife Marion, the brothers’ mother, remains an active party member at 76.
The two brothers represent different wings of the Labour Party. David supported former Prime Minister Tony Blair; Ed was a follower of Blair’s great rival Gordon Brown, the last Labour PM.
“We’re determined to make sure that family comes before politics, and I don’t think there’s any chance that politics is going to get in the way,” David Miliband said before the vote.
After the result, the two embraced in front of the cameras.
In his acceptance speech, Ed Miliband said to his brother: “David, I love you so much as a brother. And I have such extraordinary respect for the campaign that you ran.”
But some feel their warm words were for the media and for the sake of party unity. There had been reports of anger on David’s part when his younger brother chose to stand against him. David may feel that the leadership was stolen from him-and by his own brother. Ed himself was reported to be concerned that he might have hurt David. According to the Guardian, after the result, Ed’s first reaction was: “what have I done to David?”
Ed suggested that he was prepared to make his brother shadow chancellor. But David has decided it is time to move on. He will not have a role in the Shadow Cabinet in the future.
In effect, he has fallen on his sword for the Party. David Miliband said the priority was to allow his brother to make a success of leading Labour: “I believe this will be harder if there is constant comparison with my comments and position as a member of the shadow cabinet.”
小题1:. Ed Miliband became head of Britain’s Labour Party because ______.
A．he played an important role in the previous British government.
B．his arguments at political discussions and his performance at an international conference
C．Hillary Clinton thought highly of him
D．his brother supported him both at home and politics.小题2:. According to the passage, which is NOT TRUE?
A．Ed and David both worked in the government.
B．Ralph Miliband came to Britain because of the Nazis.
C．Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron are all Labour Party Prime Ministers.
D．David Miliband and Ed Miliband’s mother is still alive.小题3:.What can be inferred from the passage?
A．David Miliband and Ed Miliband fought against each other both at home and politics.
B．Ed was concerned about David’s feelings after the election.
C．David and Ed were born into a political family.
D．David and Ed agreed with each other on most of the issues小题4:.What does the underlined sentence mean?
A．David accepted his brother’s invitation to be a shadow chancellor.
B．David was determined to fight against his brother.
C．David was so upset that he would end his life with a sword for the Party.
D．David refused his brother’s offer for him to be a shadow chancellor.小题5:.Which of the following can best describe the relationship between David and Ed?
A．Brothers and political rivals
B．Partners in the political campaign
C．Partners in public and enemy in private
D．Representatives of different wings of Labour Party
