NEWLY re-elected Ealing Southall MP Virendra Sharma has given thrown his weight behind David Miliband in the Labour leadership race.

Mr Miliband, the MP for South Shields, is front-runner to fill the job vacated by Gordon Brown last week, and he already has a confirmed reporter in Mr Sharma.

It comes after the former Foreign Secretary boosted Mr Sharma's successful general election campaign by joining him on a walkabout in Southall on April 16.

Mr Sharma told the Gazette: "Since my election to Parliament I have worked very closely with David on national and international issues and I know that he will provide the leadership that the country and the Labour Party needs. He has the ideas, energy and drive to rebuild the Labour Party and will be a great leader.

"David has joined me on the campaign trail in Ealing Southall during both my by-election and general election campaigns and I am impressed by his ability to connect with voters. He has my 100 per cent backing and that of my constituency Labour Party."

Mr Sharma was first elected MP for Ealing Southall at a by-election in 2007 and retained his seat this month with 22,024 votes over Conservative Gurcharan Singh on 12,733.

He said he was "deeply honoured" to have been re-elected to and pledged to "roll up my sleeves and work hard" on behalf of the whole constituency.

"I will continue to run my office in the constituency and hold regular weekly advice surgeries and prioritise those issues that are important to local people," he said.


"I will campaign to protect acute services at Ealing Hospital, oppose the Southall gasworks development and Heathrow expansion, work to ensure Crossrail goes ahead, work in partnership with the new Labour Council and seek to protect and improve frontline public services in the difficult current financial circumstances.


"It is a big challenge but I am grateful to the people of Ealing Southall for giving me the opportunity to continue to tackle it."