Milibeard: Ed Miliband fires up fandom with new salt and pepper summer beard

Ed Miliband has been spotted sporting a new salt and pepper beard as the former Labour leader tries out a new style for the summer before parliament returns on the 7 September. The stubble spot comes as fellow facial hair enthusiast Jeremy Corbyn is set to become Miliband's shock socialist successor on 12 September.

Miliband's dark and grey beard has set social media buzzing and saw "Milibeard" trending on Twitter. The Doncaster North MP may not have got the keys to Number 10 after the general election but his fans, known as the "Milifandom", have stuck by the defeated politician.

He isn't the only Labour MP who has turned heads with their facial hair. Recent pictures of former chancellor Alistair Darling earned him the nickname the "bearded Trot". Of course, the most famous left-winger to sport a beard was rabble-rouser Karl Marx. The Communist Manifesto author's facial hair features on his tomb in Highgate Cemetery.

Elsewhere, David Cameron caused his own social media storm on 18 August when he was filmed eating Pringles. The prime minister was travelling on an EasyJet flight back from Portugal when a 16-year-old girl called Ashley captured the crisp munching moment.

A spokesperson for the crisps company told IBTimes UK: "We've had ringing endorsements from One Direction's Louis Tomlinson and Prime Minister David Cameron. From pop stars to politicians, no-one can resist a good Pringle when they're peckish."