David Miliband spotted canvassing for Labour

David Miliband has been pictured campaigning for Labour in a marginal Tory seat, in a move that will prompt speculation about a future role in the party.

In a video promoting Labour’s candidate for Lincoln, Hamish Falconer, Mr Miliband described the constituency as “absolutely critical” in the race for Downing Street.

The incumbent is Tory candidate Karl McCartney, who won a small majority of 3,514 in 2019.

Mr Miliband was also pictured canvassing in Corbridge, Northumberland, in the Tory-held seat of Hexham, and Aylesbury, another Conservative constituency.

His presence on the campaign trail is likely to prompt speculation about a potential role in Sir Keir Starmer’s team should Labour win the election.

Mr Miliband, who moved to New York after quitting Parliament in 2013, is seen as a possible future champion for the centre-Left if he returns to the fray - something he has not ruled out.

He started his career in national politics as a senior policy adviser to Sir Tony Blair in Downing Street in the 1990s, before being elected as MP for South Shields in 2001 - a position he held for 12 years.

During Labour’s tenure in No 10, he held a number of senior ministerial positions, including foreign secretary.

After Labour lost the 2010 general election, he ran for the party leadership. But he lost to his brother, Ed, in a bruising battle which ended with him refusing to serve in the shadow cabinet.

The older Mr Miliband walked away from politics in 2013 and became president of the International Rescue Committee in New York.

Despite leaving front-line politics, he has still been a vocal observer, and in 2020 accused Jeremy Corbyn and the Left of the Labour Party of being in “denial” over its losses at the 2017 and 2019 general elections.

He is still revered by many Blairites in Labour, and there have been repeated rumours of a possible comeback in the years since.

Mr Miliband hinted at a potential return in 2022, telling Andrew Marr on LBC that the matter of whether he might stand as a Labour MP again had “not been decided yet”.

But he opted not to put himself forward for the 2024 election, despite Labour’s commanding lead in the polls, choosing instead to assist from the sidelines.