Ed Miliband Was Brutally Honest About His Relationship With Brother David

1 August 2014, 17:00 | Updated: 24 August 2016, 13:09

Ed Miliband says his relationship with his brother has got much better after a difficult time following their leadership contest.

David Miliband was favourite to be the next Labour leader following the 2010 General Election, but Ed decided to compete against his brother - and beat him.

Speaking on his first LBC phone-in, the Labour leader admitted it had been tough, but says their relationship is much improved.

He said: "It was really tough taking on my brother. it's the toughest thing I've done.

"The reason I did it was because I thought I had something distinctive to say about how Labour needed to change and move on from New Labour and how the country needed to change.

"I thought I was the best person for the job and the best capable of doing that.

"It was painful and it was really hard."

When asked what David had said to him when he told him he would run, Mr Miliband said: "He actually said, 'May the best man win'.

"That was the way we went about it. It's been really tough.

"It's been tough to have him leave politics and go abroad and go and live in America and over time, I've come to the view that he probably made the right decision because he wanted to get away from - as he put it - the soap opera."

When asked by Iain Dale how his relationship with his brother is now, Mr Miliband responded: "Better I would say. We talk quite a lot. Of course he's in the States, but we talk, we text, we email.

"It's been tough, but it's got a lot better."