3) Ed Miliband
Another big figure on the soft-left, the energy secretary has been here before.
Miliband became Labour leader — beating his brother David Miliband — in 2010, though lost the subsequent 2015 general election to the Tories.
A longtime ally of Starmer, Miliband has extolled the benefits of achieving net zero through cheap, home grown energy.
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, arrives at Downing Street on May 12, 2026 in London. | Carl Court/Getty Images
The ex-Labour leader has repeatedly insisted he doesn’t want the top job again. But with the other soft-left contenders facing big hurdles for the top job, his supporters could yet persuade him to be the standard bearer in an imminent leadership contest.
A dark horse?
Labour has more than 400 MPs, meaning the pool of possible leadership contenders is huge. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has called on Starmer to consider laying out and orderly transition, while fellow Cabinet minister and Defence Secretary John Healey could pitch as a safe pair of hands in a volatile world.
Watch for little-known ministers or even backbenchers to emerge from the shadows and present themselves as a totally fresh start from Starmer. Defence Minister Al Carns, a former regular Royal Marines officer, this week penned a near 1,000 word piece for the New Statesman on “How Labour Can Win Again.”