ED MILIBAND was “touched” by the Morning Star’s support following Labour’s shock election defeat, writes Luke James.

The former Labour leader has come under sustained fire from Blairites since the morning after the general election, when he announced he was stepping down from the party’s top job.

But the Star took the heat off Mr Miliband on Tuesday by publishing exclusive photographs of him flying back from a post-election holiday in Ibiza on a packed EasyJet flight.

The snaps, which show him with wife Justine Thornton and sporting a new tan, helped rekindle the Milifandom phenomenon in the wake of the election.

Shadow cabinet member Jon Trickett was among thousands of people who shared the Star’s story on social media.

He revealed: “I was with Ed at his house when I saw the story come up on Twitter.

“I showed it to him and he was really touched.”