Labour elect Ed Miliband as new leader

Ed Miliband was elected leader of the Labour Party today, defeating older brother David by a wafer-thin majority of 50.65% to 49.35%.

The shadow energy secretary appears to have benefited from a last-minute surge of support before voting in the postal ballot closed on Wednesday, and was installed as bookies’ favourite with less than 24 hours to go after trailing David throughout the four-month contest to find a successor to Gordon Brown.