David Miliband, gracious in Labour leadership defeat, to consider future

As Ed Miliband revelled in his extraordinary success last night he will have felt every bit of his brother's pain. Rarely, if ever, in politics will the victor have worried more about the state of mind of the vanquished. The Miliband brothers were brought up in a tight-knit family. Their fondness for one another was evident last night – at the very moment one brother reached the summit but, in so doing, left the other's life's ambition in ruins. Ed's coronation was an extraordinarily poignant moment that David Miliband had feared, in the latter stages of the contest, he might have to confront. When it came he did so nobly. Afterwards he said the moment was Ed's. He was as thrilled for him as he was disappointed for himself. He made it clear that he loved his brother and that now, with the contest over, he wanted nothing other than for him to succeed as Labour leader. But if managing the choreography of defeat was difficult, the process of deciding on his own future will be nothing short of agonising. His aides admitted, even before the result, that if David lost he would be "totally shattered". He would need time to think about the future. Decisions would not be rushed. It was not correct, they said, that he had decided already that he would promptly announce his intention to serve in his brother's shadow cabinet. "David will take his time," said one of his team. "In that sort of moment you can't rush. He will spend time with Louise [his wife] and their boys and think hard about what is best." Last night he merely congratulated his brother and called on the party to unite behind him. The reality is that David Miliband now has to think entirely anew about the rest of his professional life. From his earliest days in the Labour party he was singled out as the New Labour heir to Tony Blair. He was elevated by Blair with extraordinary speed to middle ministerial rank, then into the cabinet, before becoming, in 2007, the youngest foreign secretary since David Owen in 1977. But the harsh truth that has to be confronted by him now, and by those who have urged him on, is that his chance to lead Labour has gone. He will not, in all probability, get another. Some of David Miliband's supporters believe he should have challenged Gordon Brown in 2007, as Blair prepared to depart the stage. But he pulled back and gave Brown a free run. Those same admirers believe his best opportunity came when his friend James Purnell quit the cabinet last summer. If Miliband had followed him out, Brown would have in been in serious danger – and Miliband might well have seized the crown. But he dithered and then decided against such a move. After that he struggled to shake off the charge that he was a "bottler". One single PR disaster two years ago, when he was caught on camera holding a banana aloft, did further damage to the brand. Helped by his position as foreign secretary until the election, his standing recovered well enough for him to start the leadership race that followed Labour's defeat as clear favourite. But he did not factor in his brother entering the race and capturing the leftwing vote that he, fatally, had never done enough to cultivate. There are obvious options open to David now. He could serve under his brother in a big role in the shadow cabinet. But he must be asking himself whether that would be best for either of them. If he took a top job, such as shadow chancellor, there could be tensions with his younger brother, who would, after all, always be the boss. And if he took something less it would feel, and look, like humiliation. Even if his brother's leadership were to be a catastrophe, and the door were to open to another in a couple of years' time, the party would hardly be likely to want a second Miliband. It would look elsewhere. The most likely option, say those close to David, is that he will serve for a time, perhaps a year, either in the shadow cabinet, or possibly in some other capacity, for the sake of unity and to help his brother. But then, perhaps, he will depart British politics. Could it be to a top job in the EU? Miliband was singled out last year by several European leaders as an ideal candidate for the post of EU foreign minister. But he decided against it and the job was filled. He did not put his name forward because he wanted to lead the Labour party. Now that the party has rejected him, albeit by such a narrow margin, when another top EU job comes up his response may well be different. By that route, conceivably, he could still end up more powerful than his little brother.