Brothers in arms

The brothers Grimm ...sorry... Miliband have both thrown their hats into the ring for the contest to decide the next leader of the British Labour party. It will be an exciting time for a party once led by Michael Foot and of course, latterly, Gordon Brown.What sort of leader will triumph? and can they reclaim the support, lost over the years, of the left in British politics.

But the two Milibands are not unique as being siblings in politics. Here in Ireland we have a long tradition of relatives being involved in political life. Former Foreign Minister, David Andrews and his late brother, Niall were colleagues in Fianna Fail. Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell and his brother, Jim (also sadly deceased) are and were prominent in Irish politics. Indeed our own former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern has several brothers who are dotted around the place in Kildare Street.

Even in Ulster brotherly love exists. Michael and Chris McGimpsey are both connected to the Ulster Unionists and, despite differing over the link with the Conservatives at Westminster, both are highly regarded, throughout Ireland.

As has been well documented elsewhere, a good portion of Irish political life revolves around relatives succeeding relatives and this tradition will continue through the coming generations.

As odd as a coalition between Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, the brothers Miliband are a novelty for both Westminster and the Labour party. Ed Balls, today, has announced his intention to stand for the vacancy at the top of his party. But all the attention will be fixed upon David and Ed.

In a recent Newsnight report a panel of voters were asked who would be their choice to lead Labour. The overwhelming majority backed David, although a female panellist said some of her friends 'fancied' Ed. He is a gorgeous looking bloke but has not got, one guesses,the correct attitude required to lead.

After a tough time campaigning, Labour, and the media,will continue to interest and excite us over the summer. Just when you thought it was all over we have possibly the most interesting leadership race in quite a while and the Miliband brothers will be centre stage.

One thing they must do, though, is to put the people first and only then can they return to government. But not before doing something that traditionally Labour does best - debating the issues that matter.