Ed Miliband has been confirmed as the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, as Keir Starmer forms his government after winning a huge parliamentary majority on Thursday.

Miliband – who served as Labour leader from September 2010 until 2015, and held the shadow energy brief since April 2020 – replaces Conservative Claire Coutinho.

He also previously served as Energy Secretary under former prime minister Gordon Brown from 2008 to 2010.

The MP for Doncaster North will need to implement the proposals the party made in its election manifesto, including the “clean energy transition”, making Britain “energy independent once again”, doubling onshore wind, tripling solar power and quadrupling offshore wind by 2030.

Miliband has said previously that in the first week of a Labour government he would overturn an onshore wind ban in England and relax planning rules.

Londoner Miliband attended Haverstock Comprehensive, and his father, Ralph Miliband, was an influential Marxist thinker.

The most prominent piece of proposed legislation that he will need to oversee is the Energy Independence Act, which includes the establishment of state-owned GB Energy and a commitment to decarbonise the UK’s power grid by 2030.

Miliband promised in the election campaign that GB Energy will reduce high-cost bills for citizens and cut the UK’s dependence on Russian oil.

With almost all the votes counted, Labour has won 412 seats, just short of the historic 179 majority won by Tony Blair in 1997, gaining over 200 since the last election in 2019.

The Conservatives finished with 121 seats, losing 251. The turnout was below 60%, the lowest since 2001.