By Simon Walters
Last updated at 10:00 PM on 30th April 2011


Labour leader Ed Miliband dated the former lover of Andrew Marr involved in his 'super-injunction', it was revealed last night.

The two met about ten years ago when Mr Miliband worked for Gordon Brown in the Treasury.

The woman dated Mr Miliband, 41, in 2002. The relationship ended later that year, during his break from Treasury duties to study at Harvard University in America. Mr Miliband met his fiancee Justine Thornton in 2004.

Ex-files: Both Ed Miliband and Andrew Marr were involved with the same woman

Affair: The woman has not been named but had a relationship with Mr Miliband in 2002

Affair: The woman has not been named but had a relationship with Mr Miliband in 2002

The woman, a prominent political journalist, fell pregnant a year after parting from Mr Miliband and had a daughter, now aged seven. BBC broadcaster Mr Marr believed he was the girl's father until a DNA test years later proved he was not.

Last week Mr Marr, 51, dropped the High Court injunction used to conceal his adulterous affair with the unmarried woman, who has not been named.

There is no suggestion that the Labour leader is the father of the child. Since discovering that Mr Marr is not the father, the mother has reportedly said that the real father is 'not a public figure'.

It is understood that Mr Miliband started dating the woman after his split from Labour adviser Liz Lloyd, who worked for Tony Blair in No 10. At the height of their relationship, Mr Miliband was said to be 'completely smitten' with the woman.

Mr Miliband's link with her emerged as friends of Mr Marr and his former lover disputed accounts of their relationship – and the circumstances of the DNA test.

A source told The Mail on Sunday that Mr Marr asked for a DNA test after the woman said she wanted him to play a role in the child's life. It is understood that until that point, Mr Marr, who had been paying maintenance towards the girl's upkeep, had had no contact with her.

But, according to sources, Mr Marr asked for a DNA test to be sure he was the father. It is thought he was strongly supported by his wife, leading

Left-wing journalist Jackie Ashley, daughter of campaigning Labour

peer Jack Ashley. The couple have three children.

Both Mr Marr and the child's mother were said to be shocked by the DNA test result. From then on, he ceased paying maintenance.

Together: Ed Miliband has promised to make an honest woman of his partner Justine Thornton

Together: Ed Miliband has promised to make an honest woman of his partner Justine Thornton

But friends of the child's mother give a different version of events. They claim that she asked Mr Marr to agree to a DNA test shortly after the child was born, but he refused.

'She has every right to be very cross,' said one source. 'If Andy had agreed to a DNA test years ago, this would all have been sorted out. The child could have had her real father involved in her life. The fact that she hasn't is Andy's fault.'

Mr Marr was said to be furious when remarks he made six months ago about the affair were published in the media last week.

Speaking soon after the results of the DNA test were known, he reportedly said: 'I hate this situation. I feel trapped. I wanted to do what was best for the baby and the mother of the child, and also to protect my own family.

'I was pursued with ferocity by the other party's lawyers and agreed to make financial provision for the baby.

'It was a one-night stand, no more than that, but it hadn't occurred to me not to take this woman at her word.

'A DNA test has shown that the baby is not mine. Maybe I should ask for my money back.' However, friends of the woman were angry at his 'one-night stand' comment. One said: 'The relationship was a lot more serious than that.'

The child is thought to have been conceived during a Labour Party conference eight years ago. The child's mother reportedly said that when the identity of the baby's real father was established, it was a 'massive shock' to the man.

Married man: Mr Marr with his wife, the journalist Jackie Ashley, who chose to support him following his affair

Married man: Mr Marr with his wife, the journalist Jackie Ashley, who chose to support him following his affair

Unlike Mr Marr, who earns around 600,000 a year, he is said to have 'a normal background, normal job and normal income'. Also, unlike Mr Marr, he is not married.

Mr Marr's decision to end his gagging order was welcomed by MPs and critics who said he had been wrong to hide behind a cloak of secrecy.

Ian Hislop, the editor of Private Eye, which launched a legal challenge against the super-injunction, said the former BBC political editor had been 'a touch hypocritical'.

Following Mr Marr's admission, Mr Hislop said: 'As a leading BBC interviewer, who is asking politicians about failures in judgment, failures in their private lives, inconsistencies, it was pretty rank of him to have an injunction while working as an active journalist.'

Mr Marr's revelation, together with his claim that injunctions are 'running out of control', led to fresh controversy over -celebrities exploiting the courts to hide their dirty secrets.

Mr Marr said he now felt embarrassed about his own gagging order, which he obtained in 2008. He said he did it to protect his family – and the child he thought he had fathered – but did not believe such orders should last 'for ever'. The woman has made it clear that she does not wish to talk about the case.

Mr Marr was unavailable for comment.