Knives out for Miliband as he ‘snatches steering wheel’ from Starmer
Former leader’s key role in Cabinet revolt prompts concern over his growing influence on party
Knives are being sharpened for Ed Miliband, who critics claim has “replaced Morgan McSweeney” as Sir Keir Starmer’s right-hand man.
The Telegraph detailed how the Energy Secretary led Cabinet opposition to the use of British bases for the United States’ military action in Iran.
Mr Miliband’s growing power within the party, and the role he played in setting Britain’s position on the Middle East conflict, has led some to question whether the former Labour leader is trying to take control of No 10’s “steering wheel”.
Mr Miliband has frequently ruled himself out of another tilt at the Labour leadership. He led the party in opposition from 2010 to 2015, resigning after he took Labour to a general election defeat, with Jeremy Corbyn succeeding him.
The Energy and Net Zero Secretary last month described the suggestion that he would want the job again as “absolute baloney”.
However, some government insiders have questioned why Mr Miliband was in the room during a meeting of the powerful national security council(NSC) last Friday ahead of the strikes.
Others have suggested his growing influence was symptomatic of the soft Left of the party reasserting control over the Government’s political direction after Mr McSweeney quit Downing Street.
Mr Miliband led Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, and Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, in opposing UK support for pre-emptive military action, which they believed would be illegal.
“It’s not really clear why the Energy Secretary should be in the NSC,” a source said, describing his presence as “odd”.
Mr Miliband is not a permanent member of the NSC, a Cabinet sub-committee chaired by the Prime Minister.
They source added: “But it does fit into this idea that Keir will listen more to soft-Left voices. [Sir Keir] is not filling a chief of staff role until after May, so there is a void that you can definitely see.”
The permanent members of the NSC are the Deputy Prime Minister, Chancellor, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster, Defence Secretary and attorney general.
Government documents state “other ministers will be invited according to the agenda”.
Mr McSweeney resigned from his role as Sir Keir’s chief of staff last month, after championing the appointment of Lord Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US. Lord Mandelson was sacked over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
At Mr McSweeney’s leaving party in Westminster this week, Sir Keir credited his former senior aide with being the driving force behind Labour’s 2024 general election victory.
His role is currently being filled by two acting chiefs of staff. Downing Street has said a permanent replacement will not be named until after the local elections in May.
Insiders believe the departure of Sir Keir’s highest-profile aide leaves a power vacuum at the heart of Downing Street – that Mr Miliband is happy to fill.
“Broadly, the people who have been unhappy with some of the decisions, and the direction Keir has gone with, definitely saw Morgan leaving as a chance to get their hands on the steering wheel,” one well-placed source said. “And so you have seen, Ed is now more centrally involved.”
Another added that the Energy Secretary is said to have appointed himself as the “new DLR driver in Morgan’s absence”, a reference to a description of Sir Keir that is popular with critics. It refers to the driverless Docklands Light Railway train.
Mr Miliband has consistently ranked as the most popular Cabinet minister with Labour members.
A Labour List/Survation poll in March 2025 gave him the highest net favourability rating of +69 per cent, ahead of former deputy leader Angela Rayner on +63 per cent.
In a meeting on Friday ahead of the military strikes, Mr Miliband, Ms Reeves and Ms Cooper were understood to voiced strong opposition to British support for pre-emptive action.
Sir Keir backed them and resisted pressure from Donald Trump to allow the US to fly bombing runs to Iran from RAF bases in Gloucestershire and the Chagos Islands.
The Prime Minister changed his position less than 48 hours later and American B-2 stealth bombers are due to arrive at Diego Garcia, the Indian Ocean military base, in the next few days. They will fly “limited, defensive” missions from the base.
One source told The Telegraph Mr Miliband’s involvement in the discussions about strikes on Tehran “looks like a sort of party-management thing”.
They explained his presence in the NSC meeting indicated there were discussions about how any British involvement would play with Labour MPs on the soft-Left wing of the party.
“The fact that Ed was involved suggests to me that there is quite a lot of party management involved,” they said.
A No 10 spokesman said: “We never comment on the content of national security council meetings. The decision had the full support of the Cabinet, including all the members of the NSC.”
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
