Miliband rallies party behind Brown

By Matt Falloon

MANCHESTER (Reuters) - Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Monday threw his support behind embattled Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as leading Labour Party members tried to present a unified front.

Some of the party think Brown needs to go to give Labour any chance of winning the next election due by May 2010, with the Conservatives well ahead in opinion polls.

But Miliband -- tipped as a possible replacement for Brown although he has been careful to emphasise in public this weekend that he does not want a leadership contest -- said the prime minister had respect on a world stage.

"You have transformed the political debate about international development in this country in the last 11 years and we should take inspiration from that as we move forward," Miliband told delegates at Labour's conference in Manchester.

He also pointed to Brown's successful intervention in deadlocked talks to ban cluster munitions.

"The deadlock was broken, broken by one man, our Prime Minister Gordon Brown. That is the sort of difference he makes in the world," he said.

Miliband and Brown smiled and shook hands on stage after the speech as the delegates gave the Foreign Secretary a standing ovation.

Many delegates and union activists are keen for the party to avoid a damaging battle over who should be in charge and concentrate on helping Britain through the economic downturn and taking the fight to David Cameron's revitalised Conservatives.