Ed Miliband — miliband with roots in the Russian Empire
Ed Miliband served as UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (2008-2010), authored the landmark Climate Change Act (2008), led the Labour Party (2010-2015), and returned to government as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero in 2024 — one of the most consequential climate policy roles in the world.
Tracing the roots — UK
His grandfather Abraham Miliband was a Russian-Jewish immigrant who fled anti-Semitism in Poland (then Russian Empire) and settled in Britain. Ed has spoken about rediscovering distant Russian relatives — including a Moscow cousin Sofia Davidovna Miliband — and how the family's journey from Russian persecution shapes his political values.
A career defined by ambition
"My family's history of migration and persecution is not separate from why I went into politics."