Title: ED
Subtitle: Ed Miliband and the Re-making of the Labour Party
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781849541022
Publication: Summer 2011
Price £16.99
Extent: 240pp plus 8pp plate section
“Biteback has come of age as one of Britain’s premier political publishers.”
--Peter Oborne, Daily Telegraph
Biteback Publishing is delighted to announce the acquisition of a new biography of Labour leader Ed Miliband.
ED: ED MILIBAND AND THE RE-MAKING OF THE LABOUR PARTY will be published by Biteback in the summer and is being written by leading political journalists James Macintyre and Mehdi Hasan.
The book will explore Ed Miliband’s life from childhood to the leadership of the Labour Party. It will cover the epic leadership battle and for the first time reveal the full story behind the decision Ed Miliband took to stand against his brother, David. The authors will talk to childhood friends, members of the Miliband family, teachers, colleagues, shadow ministers and anyone who can shed light on the enigmatic figure who now leads Her Majesty’s Opposition.
Ed and David Miliband were the Labour Party’s two brightest stars. At the heart of their relationship lay a political rivalry that would test family loyalty to the limit. Sons of the legendary Marxist intellectual Ralph Miliband, the brothers share a tribal passion for the Labour movement but soon ended up in the front line on either side of the hugely damaging Blair-Brown wars that besieged New Labour.
Ultimately, they would face each other in a contest for the ultimate political prize – the leadership of the Labour Party. This book is the story of the brother who won – much to the surprise of the commentariat. But it is a story that cannot be told without reference to his sibling rival.
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Both Miliband brothers spent their formative political years at the heart of New Labour, with pivotal roles in the decade-long battle between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. But this is more than a book about two remarkable individuals; it is the latest chapter in the fascinating, personal psycho-drama that is the Labour Party. It is a book which explains how Ed Miliband intends to rebuild and reshape the Labour Party into an election winning machine, and once again a party capable of forming a government.
James Macintyre, co-author of the book, says:
"In 2008 I wrote that Ed Miliband would emerge as "Gordon Brown's natural successor". But like many others I was taken aback by the exceptional determination he showed by standing against and defeating his older brother David this year. Now the electorate knows less about what motivates the current leader of the Opposition than it did about any previous party leader in modern times. I’m delighted to be working to the leading political publisher Iain Dale and alongside Mehdi Hasan - with whom I've cooperated on and off for the best part of ten years. I am looking forward to writing one of the most remarkable human stories in British politics of recent times."
Mehdi Hasan, co-author of the book, says:
“How much do we really know about the younger Miliband, the 33-1 outsider who defeated his elder brother to become Labour leader? I’m excited to be co-authoring, with James Macintyre, the first comprehensive biography of the man who could be our next prime minister. I hope readers will come away with a much greater understanding of who Ed Miliband is, where he comes from and where he plans to take the Labour Party – and the country.”
Biteback Managing Director, Iain Dale says:
“I am delighted to have secured two of the best networked journalists in Westminster to write this highly significant book about the man who could well be Britain’s next prime minister. Very few people know much about Ed Miliband as a man. I’ve always found Ed Miliband to have an engaging personality and a deeply thoughtful outlook on politics. Two years ago I wrote a profile of the Miliband brothers for GQ Magazine and I think I was the first to tip him as a future Labour leader. A magazine profile can only ever scratch the surface. I want this book to lift the lid on the real Ed Miliband, the one the public have yet to see.”
James Macintyre recently left the New Statesman, where he had been political correspondent, in order to concentrate on writing this book. He was previously a political reporter for the Independent and a producer on BBC1’s Question Time and LWT’s Dimbleby programme.
Mehdi Hasan is Senior Editor (Politics) at the New Statesman and is a former editor at with Channel 4. He is a regular on BBC’s Question Time and hosts occasional programmes on LBC radio. He also contributes to the BBC1 Sunday morning show, The Big Questions.
For press and publicity enquiries contact Katy Scholes on 020 7091 1264 or email at katy.scholes@bitebackpublishing.com