David Miliband

David Miliband was the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010.  Aged 41,  he became the youngest person in 30 years to hold the position and quickly distanced the UK Government from previous Prime Minister Blair's foreign policy. 

David was Secretary of State for the Environment from 2006 to 2007 and pioneered the world's first legally binding emissions reduction Bill.  He was an advocate for international awareness of climate change and believed the cooperation of all nations was needed for environmental reform.  He believed that the EU should go far further in two areas: a low carbon global economy and global action on climate change. 

In 2005 he was appointed to the new position of Minister of State for Communities and Local Government, it was a cabinet position and created by Prime Minister Blair following his victory in the General Election of that year.  Before that as Minister for Schools from 2002 to 2004 David was recognised as a leader of reform.  Previously, he led the policy renewal of Britain's Labour Party under Prime Minister Blair from 1994 to 2001.  In 2009 David became a surprise contender for the new post of EU Foreign Minister. 

While the possibility of Prime Minister Blair becoming the new President of Europe dominated the debate a growing number of European countries quietly focused on David.  Around Europe there was a feeling that David was more acceptable than Blair, who was hampered by his association with former President George Bush and his enthusiasm for the Iraq war.  In 2010 David narrowly failed to be elected leader of the Labour Party to replace Prime Minister Brown.  Indeed when the voting was over, a majority of the MPs and Labour Party had voted for him.  According to recently disclosed confidential documents on Wikileaks, the US leadership thought that David provided rare moments of star power for a Labour Party that seemed increasingly to miss Blair's charisma.

After graduating with first class honors in philosophy, politics, and economics from Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, he completed a master's degree in political science in 1990 at MIT, where he was a Kennedy Scholar.  David is currently MP for South Shields in the North East of England.  He has a passion for education and believes it is the most powerful way in which life chances are shaped.