Ed to wed: UK Labour leader Miliband announces engagement to Justine Thornton

March 31, 2011

— the current of the  and  in the United Kingdom — and Justine Thornton, his long-term partner, have announced that they are now  to each other. They are anticipated to in, England on May 27.

The couple, who have been in a relationship for five years, currently have two children &mdash; Daniel, aged twenty-one months, and Samuel, who was born in November 2010. Until now, they had been "too busy" to perform the act of marriage, due to various occurrences; according to, this includes Ed's work in the , the birth of their son Daniel, and Ed's appearance at the.

41-year-old Miliband proposed to 40-year-old Thornton at, a short distance from their residence in the northern area of London, in 2010. Marion Miliband, the mother of Ed, was the first individual to be notified of this news. , his brother and a fellow UK politician, was "the person I told after my mother", Ed stated; he "is delighted for me and he will obviously be there".

According to Miliband, of all the guests at the wedding, "family and close friends" will be amongst the approximately fifty individuals receiving invitations to "something that has been on our minds for some time", describing the upcoming day as "fun". He has stated there will be no present at the ceremony, contrary to speculation that the role would be given to David. After the wedding, Ed and Justine are intending to have a in a secret location.

"This is going to be a fantastic day for us both and I feel incredibly privileged to be marrying someone so beautiful and who is such a special person," Ed commented, speaking to English newspaper the. Miliband continued by explaining that "[i]t's the right time for us to do this and I'm really looking forward to a lovely day. We're going to have a party in Doncaster when we get back from honeymoon &mdash; which will be in an undisclosed location" and that "[a]t the end of the day we're in our 40s and we've got two kids &mdash; so it wasn't a case of me suddenly popping the question. This is just something we think is right for us."

Justine Thornton, Ed's fianceé noted: "Ed wasn't even an MP when I met him and at the end of the day I am marrying him because of who he is and not because of what he's doing now. We're planning on a small ceremony, all at the hotel with everything at the same place and we're looking forward to it very much."

Miliband was asked if he thought it was important to be married in case he becomes the next. He replied: "I think people are pretty relaxed about this. I don't think people care one way or the other about what other people do in their lives as long as they show responsibility to each other."