David Miliband plots a career in television

Having had his political ambitions blown out of the water by his brother, David Miliband is now hoping to carve out a career in TV, a field where his younger sibling, Labour leader Ed Miliband, is unlikely to steal his thunder.

The former foreign secretary has apparently approached the BBC with a number of programme ideas, although exactly what he has planned is not clear. The Guardian suggests that he has held talks with executives at the corporation and claims that his pitches all involve him appearing on camera.

What the move says about his political aspirations remains to be seen, but since losing the Labour leadership race he has resisted the pressure to join the shadow cabinet and hinted at a future outside politics.

Last year he told the Observer: "My main thought now is that there is a world out there. Sometimes, in politics, you can forget that, and get into a tunnel."

A spokesman for Miliband responded to the rumours about a TV career, saying: "David is talking to a range of organisations about his interest in foreign and environmental policy."

But former MP Anne Widdecombe, who has become a familiar face on TV screens thanks in part to her astonishing performances on Strictly Come Dancing last year, has counseled against Miliband's apparent desire to abandon Westminster. "Were I in his shoes at that age – and I underline at that age – I would stay there," she said.

Widdecombe added he could still become Labour leader. "I would have thought that at 45 it's better to stay in politics for the simple reason that he's still got years ahead of him in which he can make a contribution," she claimed.

Even though Miliband is expected to stay on as MP for South Shields, others who have made the transition believe that it would be hard to return to frontline politics after dabbling in the media. Christine Hamilton, whose husband, Neil, lost his seat in the 1997 election said: "Once you've crossed the divide, I think that's probably it. Especially for somebody like him."

Tell that to Miliband's fellow defeated Labour leadership candidate, Diane Abbott who, after several years appearing with former MP Michael Portillo on the politics show This Week, has recently become a member of the shadow cabinet. ·