David Miliband has been MP for South Shields since June 2001 and was appointed as Foreign Secretary in June 2007.

He has previously been the minister for Communities and Local Government and held the position of Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs before moving to the Foreign Office.

David was born and educated in London before completing a degree in politics, philosophy and economics at Corpus Christi College in Oxford.

He went on to win a Kennedy Scholarship to study for a masters’ degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US before returning to the UK to work in the voluntary sector for the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

David then worked as a research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research and was secretary of the Commission on Social Justice, set up by former Labour leader John Smith, from 1992 to 1994.

From 1994 to 2001, he worked closely with then Labour leader Tony Blair as head of policy and head of the Prime Minister’s policy unit during Mr Blair’s first term in office.

He divides his time between London and his constituency as well as maintaining his position as president of South Shields football club, also known as the Mariners.

David lives with his wife Louise, who plays the violin for the London Symphony Orchestra, and the couple have one child.