 After Labour was defeated in the May 2010 general election , Brown resigned as leader and in September 2010 , Miliband was elected Leader of the Labour Party . Miliband 's tenure as Labour leader was characterised by a leftward shift in his party 's policies and opposition to the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government 's cuts to the public sector . He led his party into several elections , including the 2014 European Parliament election and the 2015 general election . Following Labour 's loss to the Conservative Party at the general election , Miliband announced his resignation as leader on 8 May 2015 and instructed the party to put into motion the processes to elect a new leader . He was succeeded in the ensuing leadership election by Jeremy Corbyn . 
