Former British foreign secretary David Miliband quits UK politics

Former UK foreign secretary David Miliband, the elder brother of the opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, has quit British politics, putting an end to speculation about his leadership ambitions.

He will become president of a New York-based humanitarian-aid organisation, the International Rescue Committee, ending a 12-year career as a lawmaker. In a letter to his constituents on his website yesterday, Miliband said the move, while tinged with sadness, was a result of his having to "make a choice about how to give full vent to my ideas and ideals".

Ed Miliband beat his brother to the Labour leadership in 2010, prompting a rift between the siblings, according to British media reports. Ed twice offered his brother senior roles in his opposition team, both rejected.

The two brothers represent different wings of the Labour Party. David, a close ally of former prime minister Tony Blair, favoured a centrist modernising agenda. Ed, by contrast, has closer ties to the party's traditional labour-union supporters, whose backing ensured his election as leader.

"After the leadership election, I felt I could be most helpful to the party on the front line," serving voters in his district in South Shields, northeast England, rather than on his brother's parliamentary team, David Miliband wrote on his website yesterday.