Oh Brother! Labour has a new Ed.

The Sun

Labour MP and Environment Minister in the previous government, Ed Miliband has just narrowly beaten his elder brother David in the race for the leadership of the British Labour Party.

The British press have puns of fun finding suitable headlines. Newspaper word-play mini-lesson.

Ed is considered to be to the left of his brother, and is thought to be ready to turn the party away from the centralist ideas of 'New Labour'. This was the term used by Tony Blair to show that the party had moved away from its 'old' socialist ways.

David Miliband also served in the previous government, as Foreign Secretary, and until recently was seen by many as the natural heir to 'New labour'

The Daily Mail / Mail on Sunday

First notice the word play, which is standard practice in British tabloid newspapers, and not only tabloids; even the Telegraph couldn't resist  the temptation. What do you think could be the word play in these phrases? Think for a minute then point your cursor over the clues and then the answers for my suggestions.

Oh Brother!		Answer
Ed over heels	Clue 1 Clue 2	Answer
Ed by a head	Clue 1 Clue 2	Answer

The Mirror

The Mail talks of an upset. Why do you think they use this word?	?
The Mirror says 'Ed edges out brother ...' What do you think the phrasal verb 'to edge sb/sth out' means?	?
The Telegraph's headline seems to be all over the Internet. In this sentence - "Victory has rarely tasted ___ sweet". What word would we normally expect instead of 'less'?	?
Why did the Telegraph change it?	?
The Telegraph describes Ed Miliband as looking sombre. What does this mean? Clue - look at the photo.	?

The Telegraph

On a historical note, the Miliband brothers are of Polish descent. Although their father, Ralph Miliband, was born in Belgium, his parents were originally from Warsaw. And the brothers' mother, Marion Kozak, was born in Poland.