Ed Miliband: I feel sorry for my ex-girlfriends

Ed Miliband said he feels sorry for former girlfriends like Stephanie Flanders who have ended up in the papers Credit: PA

Ed Miliband has said that he "feels sorry" for his ex-girlfriends, after his previous relationship with BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders came to light.

The Labour leader's own wife Justine Thornton let slip earlier this month that Mr Miliband had once dated Ms Flanders - revealing him to be something of a Lothario who juggled both women, after allowing Ms Thornton to believe he was single.

Mr Miliband told Radio 4's Woman's Hour that he was not angry with his wife for talking about his love life.

Ed Miliband has defended drafting in wife Justine on the campaign trail Credit: PA

He told the show: "The people I feel sorry for are the people I've been out with in the past who ended up in the papers because I'm a public figure and they are not."

Asked if he had been furious that Ms Thornton told The Mirror about how they met and of his previous paramours, he replied: "No, not at all. There is so much all over the papers.

"If I got furious about what's all over the papers in the last four and a half years goodness knows what would have happened."

Mr Miliband also defended drafting in his wife on the campaign trail.

"Justine has been doing her own campaigning," he said. "She's not part of the package, she's her own person.