david miliband was born in london to polish-jewish parents and is an atheist. he was raised in primrose hill, london. he is the elder son of marxist ralph miliband and marion kozak. he is the elder brother of labour leader ed miliband. he was educated at the university of oxford and was the head of the number 10 policy unit from 1997-2001. he was first elected in the 2001 general election. after being part of tony blair and gordon brown's governments, miliband was a candidate in the 2010 labour leadership contest. despite miliband being favourite to win the contest, his brother ed narrowly won the contest in september 2010. miliband chose not to be a member of ed's shadow cabinet.