London : Ed Miliband on Friday resigned as the Labour Party leader after the loss of his party to Prime Minister David Cameron’s Tories and a thrashing by the Scotland National Party (SNP) in the British general elections.
He himself lost in Morley and Outwood but retained his Doncaster North seat.
In a speech in London, Miliband said it was “time for someone else” to take over the leadership and that he was “truly sorry” he did not succeed, BBC reported.
He said that deputy leader Harriet Harman will be the interim leader.
“I joined this party aged 17,” he was quoted as saying. “I’ve never dreamed I’d lead it.”
Stating that he had done his best for five years, he said it was “not simply leadership that achieves change”.
“I will never give up on fighting for the Britain that I believe in,” he added.
Earlier, Miliband apologised to MPs on losing their seats in the general elections saying that it had been a “very disappointing and difficult night”.
“This has clearly been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour Party, we haven’t made the gains we wanted in England and Wales and in Scotland, we have seen a surge of nationalism overwhelm our party,” he said after the results were declared in Morley and Outwood, where he lost to Conservative candidate Andrea Jenkyns by 422 votes.
“Now I want to say to all our dedicated and decent colleagues in Scotland who have lost their seats that I am deeply sorry about what has happened.
“The next government has a huge responsibility, it has a huge responsibility in facing the difficult task of keeping our country together,” Miliband added.
Labour also lost previous leader Gordon Brown’s former constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath to the SNP.
The SNP wiped out Labour from Scotland by securing 56 out of a total 59 seats. Labour could secure only one seat.