I know, given the competition, it was never going to be wedding of the year, but Ed Miliband's wedding has generated its fair share of interest already.
A source close to the Labour leader told me last night that after the story was broken by the Doncaster Free Press yesterday, one of the first phone calls the team fielded was from OK! magazine. Apparently a sum wasn't discussed, but they were told that there won't be a 'happy Miliband couple' spread going in there.
Shame.
By announcing a date, Ed has generated a certain amount of speculation that he's doing this for political reasons. But he's strongly denied this, saying:
"For me, it's a way of of expressing my love and commitment to Justine ... When we had children, we decided it was right to formalise and make that public commitment. But different people make different choices ... I think marriage is a good institution. But in the end stable families come in different forms."
He also insisted that he did not feel under political pressure to marry. "If I had, I would have got married earlier," he said.
Roll on May 27...
Comments
Geraint / April 01 2011 1:17am
Miliband had no other option but to announce the date. Even if he didn't announce to the public, the date would have leaked out anyway, such is the nature of being leader of the opposition, and modern politics.
The very fac t that it is going to be a low key event, and that he has said no to OK!, shows that it is not for political reasons. Indeed, wouldn't it be more logical, if it was political, to hold it before the May elections, in Wales, Scotland and the local elections in the North of England? Yet again, the fact that it is after, just again shows that he is trying to make it as unpolitical as possible.