Miliband wedding plans hit best man snag

London: Ed Miliband's plans to get married after living with his partner Justine Thornton for six years have hit a snag — he can't decide whether to ask his older brother David to be best man.

The Labour leader was best man at David's wedding to his musician wife Louise 13 years ago and, until recently, it was taken for granted by the family that when Ed, 41, and barrister Justine get married, he would return the compliment.

That all changed six months ago when Ed ruthlessly snatched the Labour crown from David's grasp. Relations are so bad that when the pair bumped into each other in the Commons last week, they didn't even exchange a glance.

Ed is the first leader of a major political party to live with his family out of wedlock and has come under fire for failing to marry 40-year-old Justine.

Birth certificate issue

He was also criticised for not putting his name on the birth certificate of his eldest son Daniel, claiming he was so busy he forgot. The couple had a second son, Samuel, in November.

Until now the Labour leader has refused to discuss his wedding plans, but last night a spokesman said: "There is no sense that the wedding is being held up in any way. They will announce the date in their own time." Asked if Ed would choose David, 45, as best man, the spokesman said: "There will also be an announcement about the best man in due course."

Friends of the Labour leader say he risks humiliation if he asks David and is rejected. But he could have even more egg on his face if David accepts and takes full advantage of the best man's customary role of poking fun at the groom. Ed has a number of other possible "best men", including Gordon Brown, his leadership campaign manager Neil Kinnock, Shadow Justice Minister Sadiq Khan and new-boy Labour MP Chuka Umunna.

Too junior

But they a ll pose different hazards. Miliband is keen to distance himself from Brown; Kinnock blew his chance of winning the 1992 election in a wild and emotional speech just before Polling Day; Khan is mistrusted by Labour foes, and 32-year-old Umunna, who entered Parliament last year, is seen as too junior.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander, who worked alongside Ed Miliband when they were young aides at the Treasury, have been ruled out after both fell out with him when Brown's Premiership hit the rocks.

If David emulates his brother's speech at his wedding to Louise in 1998, Ed will have little to fear. One guest said: "It was ridiculously pious and well-behaved and earnest. There were no naughty jokes, not even any quips I can remember."

A Labour insider said: "It is tricky. David is the obvious choice but it could overshadow the entire event. But it won't be much better if someone else is chosen and David skulks at the back of the wedding marquee." Pressed on his marriage plans, Miliband said in an interview yesterday: "You'll find out when we set a date."

When asked about relations with his brother, he said: "We talk about things all the time. I've got lots of things to be getting on with, and so has he."

Bleak assessment

Did he agree with his brother's bleak view that Labour faced a huge struggle to get back into power?

"He's totally right about the scale of the challenge. We're doing well in by-elections and opinion polls but I am the least complacent person around about the scale of the task we have in winning back people's trust." Had the leadership episode hurt him as much as it had hurt David? "It was a difficult time, and it has taken time for us to work things through. But I feel it has become a lot easier."