“I love you so much as a brother,” were the powerful words used by Ed Miliband in his acceptance speech on becoming the new leader of Britain’s Labour Party today, having defeated his brother, David, in a leadership contest.
Your grandfather watched with fascination as the results of a complex voting process slowly emerged at the party’s annual conference in Manchester today. It was political drama at its finest, as two Jewish brothers, David and Ed, competed for the position of Leader of the Opposition along with three other candidates. And the outcome could hardly have been closer with Ed winning 50.65 per cent of the vote in contrast to his older brother, David’s 49.35 per cent.
The former Foreign Secretary, David, could be seen just holding back the tears as he faced the realisation that his dreams of becoming Britain’s next Prime Minister were fatally dashed.
Unless the current Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition comes unstuck, the next election is likely to be almost five years from now. But even by then, I don’t believe that my dear Yael will still much care about who is the resident of Number 10 Downing Street.
With this being my 50th blog since your arrival, I should have clocked up more than 1,800 by then. Phew, you are going to have a lot of reading to catch up on as you get older.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
