Daily photos no. 46: The Other Miliband

My university was twice blessed by the presence of a Miliband: the vanquished David made an appearance early 2012 in conversation with Keith, a great colleague, friend and mentor. The fratricidal Labour leadership contest was only 18 months or so in the past, but David hadn't yet made the move to America to become part of the highly-paid charitable sector troposphere. No doubt everyone wanted to talk about the fallout with his brother, but what we got instead was a fairly candid and thoughtful account of the state of contemporary politics from someone who'd been a decent Environment Secretary, and average Foreign Secretary, and a man who appeared to have no strong opinions about the big questions beyond a vague sense that a tightly knit group of upper-middle class chaps with the right instincts should be able to manage a country pretty well, thank you. I asked him whether there was enough self-doubt or self-reflection in modern politics, which I hoped would elicit a few thoughts about the way PR had overtaken principles, and the homogenisation of the political class, but alas not.

He also isn't as photogenic as his brother. More Inaction Man than Fozzy Bear.