David Miliband gets Sunderland football club post

Mr Miliband has been searching for a new role after his leadership defeat

Former foreign secretary David Miliband has joined the board of Premier League football club Sunderland.

Mr Miliband, long considered a future Labour leader, stepped down from front line politics after narrowly losing the leadership race to his brother Ed.

He remains MP for South Shields and has taken on a role as non-executive vice chairman of the club.

Club Chairman Niall Quinn said his knowledge and expertise could help Sunderland grow on the world stage.

He approached Mr Miliband - an Arsenal supporter - after his Labour leadership defeat last September and Mr Miliband has met club officials to discuss becoming the public voice of the club around the world.

Mr Quinn said: "We are delighted and honoured to welcome David to Sunderland and I am certain he can bring an extra dimension to us as a club.

"He is already a great champion of our ethos of community involvement and will be a fabulous asset on this front."

'Unique skills'

He said the former cabinet minister, whose South Shields constituency is about eight miles north of Sunderland's Stadium of Light, on the North-East coast, could provide a different view on how the club could grow.

"As a former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with worldwide knowledge and links, he can also help us become better known around the world as we look to grow and develop the club on an international stage.

"His unique skills will certainly complement our highly talented existing board members whose areas of expertise include marketing and commercial, legal and finance."

Mr Miliband said he was "delighted" to have been approached by the chairman "to get involved in a club that already undertakes community work in my constituency of South Shields".

"As non-executive vice chairman I hope to support the club's ambitions in both the community, through the Academy and its Foundation, and on the international playing field, where Sunderland now belongs."

When news emerged of his talks with the club last month, Mr Miliband's spokesman said he had been in talks about a role "focusing on his international and community work" and that, in common with other former ministers, the advisory committee on business appointments was considering it.

Since returning to the back benches, Mr Miliband was also reported to have pitched TV ideas to the BBC and is set to become a volunteer politics teacher at his local school in North London.

He and wife Louise, a concert violinist, have also set up a company, The Office of David Miliband, with registered offices in London's West End - in a move reminiscent of his former mentor Tony Blair, who set up The Office of Tony Blair when he stood down as prime minister.

Newspaper reports suggest Mr Miliband would receive a salary of £50,000 for the Sunderland role - as a backbench MP, he earns about £65,000 a year.

Among fellow politicians to take up football jobs are former home and defence secretary John Reid, who is now chairman of Glasgow Celtic football club and former Conservative Party chairman Lord Mawhinney, who became chairman of the Football League.