He branded the label “Red Ed” as “tiresome rubbish” yesterday and made clear there would be no lurch to the Left under his leadership, declaring: “I am for the centre ground of politics.”
While Mr Miliband won his victory on the back of trade union votes, a detailed breakdown of the voting figures shows that in Scotland it was David Miliband who received the most first-preference votes among MPs and MEPs: 21 as opposed to 15 for Ed.
Less than 24 hours after narrowly beating his older brother to the Labour throne, Mr Miliband, 40, made clear he would not be tied to the orthodoxies of the Blair/Brown years.
“The era of New Labour has passed. A new generation has taken over,” he said.
Tomorrow he faces his first big test as leader when he gives his inaugural keynote speech to conference. Last night, Mr Miliband was warmly received as he mingled at a private meeting with MPs and MEPs.
He was greeted with applause as he arrived at a hotel suite and then delivered a 10-minute morale-raising speech. One notable absentee, however, was his brother, David.
Jim Murphy, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, who ran the elder Miliband’s campaign, said: “He is just taking a few hours out. He will be back tomorrow morning.”
The Shadow Foreign Secretary is due on stage for a speech and a debate on foreign policy.
He has until tomorrow evening to decide if he will stand for the Shadow Cabinet.
The new Labour leader admitted to having a “very nice conversation” with his older brother and denied David could chose whichever Shadow Cabinet post he desired.
“That is not the case. I will pick the appropriate job for him,” said Mr Miliband.
Earlier, the new Labour leader said his brother had shown extraordinary generosity and graciousness towards him after the result was announced.
Asked what future role he envisaged for his brother, he replied: “He needs time to think about the contribution he can make. He can make a very big contribution to British politics.”
It is thought Mr Miliband might offer his brother the Shadow Chancellorship, a role coveted by Ed Balls, another leadership candidate.
One suggestion is that if the Shadow UK Education Secretary failed to secure the Shadow Treasury brief, it could open up a new rift within Labour ranks at Westminster.
In his first interview, Ed Miliband stressed that he would lead a “responsible opposition”, saying: “I’m not going to oppose every cut that the Coalition Government comes up with. I will judge them on their merits.”
On the issue of the budget deficit, he paved the way for a change of policy after describing Shadow Chancellor Alistair Darling’s plan to halve the deficit over four years as “a starting point”, but added that he would want to look at how he could “improve” it. He explained the deficit should be cut “at a cautious pace and in a way that will help our economy, not hinder it”.
Michael Fallon, the Conservative Deputy Chairman, claimed the new Labour leader was “very confused” on the economy. He said: “First, he says he supports Alistair Darling’s plan but we know Alistair Darling wanted to increase VAT [but] he then voted against VAT. During his leadership campaign he has added more spending pledges of his own of nearly £30 billion. There is a huge black hole he simply hasn’t spelt out.”
Speaking at the end of conference’s traditional Scots’ Night, Mr Milliband said that since his election as leader the party has gained a member every minute and he urged the party faithful to “build a mass movement Labour party just like we did before 1997”.
Describing the General Election result for Labour in Scotland as “fantastic”, he pledged to work tirelessly for a Labour victory at Holyrood next May. “I know the importance of the Scotish elections and I tell you that much of my leadership will be devoted to working with you between now and then and to make sure that what we know can happen, does happen, and Iain Gray becomes the First Minister of Scotland.”
The new Labour leader called for unity, saying “there must be no more factions”. He said the party after the election defeat must show humility in order to rebuild trust with the British people and he called for some “old- fashioned inspiration”, adding “we’ve got to convince people that we offer something different”.
