Ed Miliband was not my first choice as leader of the Labour party

I made no secret of my preference for David, who, in my view, had the intelligence, judgment and drive to lead Labour back into government.

However, this was not to be. Partly, I suspect, because David was avoiding giving hostages to fortune, he allowed himself to be depicted as the more establishment candidate in an election where the voters were looking for change. The irony of this is that I expect Ed to follow a similar strategy to the one that David would have adopted. All the talk about 鈥淩ed Ed鈥� and being in the pocket of militant trade unions is hot air fanned by hostile media. There will be no 鈥渓urch to the left鈥�.

The electorate did not endorse Cameron鈥檚 bid to form a majority government, and although the new government may have enjoyed a honeymoon period, it will face growing hostility as its harsh policies bite, unemployment rises and the recovery stalls. Ed knows that in this volatile environment, his first few months in post are likely to determine whether Labour can look forward to a swift return to power.

Like his older brother, ed has the ability to develop effective solutions to complex problems

He also knows that he must put an end to the factionalism that scarred the Blair/Brown years. He has to unite the party and that this must be on a centre-left platform. Appealing to the Labour heartlands alone will never deliver a majority.

He will, I am sure, wish to bring forward policies to combine deficit reduction with the promotion of growth. His reference in his speech to the importance of construction employment was encouraging, and he clearly understands the importance of capital investment and the need to rebuild confidence in the housing market, damaged by the recession and the maladroit policies of the coalition government. But I do not expect Ed to rush into a host of policy announcements. He has a strong pragmatic streak and needs to be satisfied that things will work before he commits to them.

Like his older brother he has the ability to develop effective solutions to complex problems. His track record at the energy department stands him in good stead and gives a clue as to how he is likely to act in his new role. Imaginative, thoughtful, determined, radical and focused on delivering practical outcomes. Interestingly the words are very similar to the ones I would have used to describe David, too. Time will tell, but I suspect the judgment of history will be that Labour has done well to elect a Miliband as its leader.