Labour Leadership Contest Overshadowed By Ed Miliband’s New Hipster Beard

Ed Miliband Gráinne Maguire/Twitter

Their increasingly stroppy leadership contest has dominated the Labour Party over the past few weeks.

But thoughts of the new possible Prime Minister-in-waiting were temporarily banished on Thursday as a picture emerged on Twitter showing a relaxed Ed Miliband with a new hipster-style beard.

The photograph featured Britain’s most famous bacon sandwich eater sporting several days’ worth of greying stubble while sporting a cheesy grin and a casual T-shirt.

Ed, who led the Labour party to a disastrous election defeat back in May at the hands of the Tories, has recently been licking his wounds on a variety of family holidays.

A more clean-shaven Ed Miliband/Jocian

The latest photograph may have even been snapped at the airport as trendy Ed made his way to Australia on his latest vacation.

It was posted by Twitter user Gráinne Maguire who wrote: ‘Everyone f****** stop everything. Ed Miliband’s grown a f****** beard.’

But could Ed’s new look be less holiday hipster and more a subtle way to signal who he is really backing for Labour leader?

Indeed, as the Labour party’s most famous faces - Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - have spoken out to warn members and new ‘supporters’ voting for bearded leftie and current leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn, Ed has remained suspiciously silent on the surge of support for the Islington North MP.

Once nicknamed ‘Red Ed’ by the tabloid press, the youngest Miliband brother may have found a cleverly hairy way of signalling his solidarity for Corbyn.

‘He believes the debate must play out between the candidates,’ a source close to Ed recently insisted to the Mail Online.