Ed Miliband's cousin in Tel Aviv isn't sure she'd vote for him

Miri Krimolovsky, Israel Radio’s cultural reporter, remembers would-be British PM fondly, says ‘it will be a big surprise if he wins’

Art historian and curator Miri Krimolovsky, who is also Israel Radio’s cultural correspondent, lives in Tel Aviv. But she is keeping a close eye on the British parliamentary elections for an unusual reason: Labour leader Ed Miliband is her second cousin.

So is his big brother David Miliband, a former British foreign secretary.

“It will be a big surprise if he’s elected,” she was quoted telling Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday, as British voters went to the polls to choose between cousin Ed, Conservative leader David Cameron et al. “I’m excited, but not so very much.”

Krimolovsky said she remembered Ed and David Miliband mainly as nice-looking, well-brought-up British boys whom she and her family used to visit in England during her childhood. But since Ed began his studies at Oxford University and went into politics, they haven’t kept in close touch.

Miri Krimolovsky, a cousin of Ed Miliband’s, interviewed on Channel 2 on May 7 as the UK voted in elections. (Channel 2 screenshot)

“The last time we spoke was at a family gathering a few years ago, when one of our relatives had a baby,” she told Yedioth. Ed and David were too busy to attend the festivities, but sent greetings via video.

“I’m not sure I’d vote for him,” Krimolovsky said, “but I hope to visit Number 10 Downing Street if he wins.”

In an interview on Israel’s Channel 2 on Thursday evening, she sounded a little more enthusiastic. When it was put to her that obviously she’d vote for her cousin if she had the right to do so, Krimolovsky said, “Well, I suppose so.” Then she added of Miliband and Cameron, “although both of them seem to me to be worthy candidates.”

She dismissed the notion that Miliband was in some way bad for Israel, saying, “I’m sure he’s proud of Israel and he loves Israel. And as the son of Holocaust survivors, he certainly understands the importance of this state.”

Asked about Miliband’s position on the occupation, she underlined his commitment to human rights, and said he has “a humanist outlook,” precisely because his parents were Holocaust survivors.”