Labour snub: How Alastair Campbell dubbed Ed Miliband 'backbencher trying to stay relevant
LABOUR Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband was dealt a harsh blow by Tony Blair's former spin doctor Alastair Campbell during an interview with GQ after the latter suggested he was "trying to stay relevant".
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Ed Miliband is the Labour Party’s new Shadow Business Secretary having been drafted to the front bench by Sir Keir Starmer. Many will remember Mr Miliband’s former Labour days, more specifically, his failed stint as leader.
He spearheaded the party for five years from Gordon Brown’s resignation in 2010 until his defeat to the Conservative Party’s David Cameron in 2015.
In the following years Mr Miliband remained an MP but was relieved of senior political duties and responsibilities.
He set up the podcast “Reasons to be Cheerful” with radio host Geoff Lloyd, attempting to enter the public psyche in a more formal setting.
In a 2018 GQ interview with Labour’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, Mr Miliband was challenged over his newfound passions.
It came after the former Labour leader revealed how the aftermath of his election defeat felt.
He compared it to the hit US drama The West Wing, when Arnold Vinick lost the presidential election and became a nobody, with nothing to do.
As Mr Campbell conceded he had never seen the West Wing, he attempted to draw Mr Miliband to explain his position on his own terms.
He said: “So, the leader of the Labour Party in our system, if this was football, you have Chelsea, Man City up here, where there is a backbench MP for Doncaster doing a bit of podcasting and trying to stay relevant?”
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To this, Mr Miliband replied: “Oh I don’t think I’d make that sort of comparison.
“I’m actually getting quite a lot out of what I’m doing at the moment.”
Prior to the embarrassing moment, Mr Miliband reflected earnestly on his thoughts and feelings in the days and years after his election defeat.
He said: “I think the truth is I felt a sense of shock.
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“You’re slightly in shock.
“You know it’s happened but you’re still trying to work out what it means.
“You feel the burden of leadership has been lifted.
“I was thinking, I’ve got my family, Justine and the kids.
“So, I knew there was compensation.
“It was pretty hard.
“You move on I think, I’ve moved on.
But, it took sort of really a year.
“I think the 2017 general election was an inflection point, a sort of moment of moving on.”
With Sir Keir’s leadership victory last month, a range of unknown and low profile MPs moved to the frontbench.
Among them, Anneliese Dodds, the new Shadow Chancellor, and Nick Thomas-Symonds, the new Shadow Home Secretary.