Ed Miliband, the former Labour Party leader whose awkward encounter with a bacon sandwich became one of British politics’ most enduring internet memes, was appointed foreign secretary Monday by newly installed United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Miliband, previously energy secretary under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, described the promotion as the “honor of my life.” In the role, he is set to become the British counterpart to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, taking on a high-profile diplomatic brief at a particularly turbulent moment in global affairs and amid the return of President Trump to the international stage.
The appointment marks another turn in a political career still closely associated, at least online, with a photograph taken more than a decade ago showing Miliband struggling to eat a bacon sandwich at a London cafe. The image quickly became a symbol used by critics to portray him as awkward, out of touch and ill-suited to the everyday rituals of retail politics.
Shot by photographer Jeremy Selwyn for London’s Evening Standard, the unflattering picture fueled a wave of #EdEats jokes, memes and parodies that trailed Miliband for months.
Miliband had risen to the top of Labour in 2010 after defeating his brother, David Miliband, in the party leadership contest. But his tenure ended roughly a year after the bacon sandwich episode, when Labour suffered a heavy defeat in the 2015 general election.
A Labour Party review of that election loss later concluded that many voters saw Miliband as significantly weaker than Conservative leader David Cameron and less “prime ministerial.”
His return to one of the most senior offices in government prompted immediate reaction online, where some social media users predicted the new foreign secretary could generate more awkward moments on the global stage.
“Trump is going to humiliate Miliband repeatedly on the world stage,” one X user wrote. “You thought his eating a bacon sandwich was a meme, you’ve seen nothing yet.”
“Sending Ed Miliband to represent the UK on the world stage? The bacon sandwich photo op was bad enough — now foreign diplomats get to deal with him,” another user chimed in.
“Imagine [Miliband] as Foreign Secretary, moving in diplomatic circles talking like you have half a hamburger stuck in the back of your throat,” read another mocking post, which included a photo of the sandwich incident.
In a statement, Miliband pledged to be a foreign secretary who “fights for Britain’s interests and our values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law on the world stage” and will “nurture our strong, enduring and essential alliance with the United States.”
“Today, as we face a time of greater instability and threat to international law and democracy than at any time since the Second World War, these values are more important than ever,” he said. “From Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine to conflict in the Middle East, time and again we have seen the consequences of a more dangerous world in the cost of living crisis that families and businesses face.”
“For Britain, that means we must work with others to defend the principles that we cherish, because it is in our national interest to do so, building on the excellent work of my predecessors and friends.”
