Miliband's 'tremendous honour'

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Mr Miliband arrived at the Foreign Office shortly after noon and shook hands with Parliamentary Under-Secretary Peter Ricketts in front of his new staff.

He said that he wanted to bring leadership to the Foreign Office which was "patient as well as purposeful".

Mr Miliband said: "I am tremendously honoured and absolutely delighted to be asked by the new Prime Minister to be the Foreign Secretary in his new Government.

"The opportunities and challenges of the modern world require, in my view, a diplomacy which is patient as well as purposeful, which listens as well as leads. And these are the virtues that I will be trying to bring to bear in my leadership of the Foreign Office.

"I believe that the FCO is a unique global asset for Britain and I want to ensure it is deployed to maximum effect to help build the better Britain and the better world that Gordon Brown, the new Prime Minister, has laid out so convincingly."

Mr Miliband, a rising Labour star who was urged to stand against Mr Brown for the leadership, replaces Margaret Beckett.

Mrs Beckett had only been in the job since May last year.

A handful of Foreign Office staff stood around a large internal courtyard to witness the arrival of their new boss, the former environment secretary, in his "green" Toyota Prius.

Those inside twitched curtains as he was greeted by Mr Ricketts and addressed reporters before striding into his grandly-decorated new department. Despite reports tipping him for the role, departmental officials were unable to confirm his instatement as Foreign Secretary even as he was due to arrive.