An Englishman In New York: David Miliband, Brother of Labour Party Leader, Quits UK Politics To Work For NY Charity

David Miliband, the brother of the leader of the British Labour Party, will quit Parliament on Wednesday in order to take a job in New York.

The Mirror tabloid of Britain reported that Miliband’s impending resignation as MP for South Shields will lead to a by-election in May.

Miliband served as foreign secretary under ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and is also the brother of current Labour chief and Opposition Leader Ed Milliband. In fact, his brother defeated him for the job.

“David has landed a dream job in charge of a charity in New York and wants to take it,” an unnamed source told the Mirror. “But it means leaving politics.”

The Mirror speculates that the “dream job” is a senior position with International Rescue, which deals with humanitarian crises around the world.

David, 47, has enjoyed an extensive political career, despite his relative youth – he has also served as environment secretary and junior minister in the department of education.

In addition, David’s departure from British politics could make life easier for his brother Ed, who has long worried that David may try to usurp his role as the boss of Labour.

Indeed, in September 2010, David missed taking over Labour by a slim margin to Ed, largely due to union support for the latter.

David is married to Louise Shackleton, an American-born musician, and they have two children.

The Mirror further noted that David has been heavily engaged in corporate sponsorships and lucrative speaking engagements in recent years, having worked for, among other entities, VantagePoint Capital Partners, a California group; Oxford Analytica, a UK advisory firm; and Indus Basin Holdings, a Pakistani agrochemical business.

David earns speaking fees of up to £20,000 ($30,300) each and has reportedly earned almost £1 million on top of his MP salary over the past two years.