CABINET Office Minister David Miliband and his wife flew to the US to adopt a baby son in time for a family Christmas.

The 39-year-old, one of Tony Blair's closest allies, witnessed the birth along with his wife, Louise.

The baby, named Isaac James, was born on Monday, December 13, weighing 7lbs.

He was taken from his natural mother and handed to the couple, who flew back to their London home on Christmas Eve.

Mr Miliband, the MP for South Shields, South Tyneside, announced the arrival yesterday.

He said: "I am delighted to say that Louise, my wife, and I have adopted a baby son.

"This is a wonderful end to the year for Louise and I, and our families. We are absolutely delighted and we are looking forward to all the joys and challenges of parenthood.

"We are really looking forward to introducing our youngster to the North-East, which we will be doing in the new year."

The prominent MP, who was recently promoted to Minister for the Cabinet Office following a successful period as Schools Minister, has long held a desire for a family after he married Louise in 1998.

The couple, who divide their time between their homes in South Shields and London, met in 1995 during a flight to Rome.

Louise grew up in the US, went to university there and spent much of her early career in the country. She is an accomplished cellist and is a director of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Mr Miliband, who was elected South Shields MP in June 2001, was educated at Haverstock Comprehensive School, in London, Oxford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been tipped as a future leader of the Labour Party.

A family friend in South Shields said: "David and Louise have always wanted to start a family. This is great news for them and I am sure they will put their heart and soul into being good parents."

Isaac is the couple's first child.

Mr Miliband declined to discuss in detail why they chose the US instead of the UK. He said: "Louise grew up in the US through her childhood and into her 20s. She is an American citizen as well as a British citizen and she has adoption rights in America."

Mr Miliband was head of Tony Blair's Policy Unit from 1994 to 2001. From 1989 to 1994, he was a research fellow at the Institute of Public Policy Research, and from 1992 to 1994, was secretary of the Commission on Social Justice.

His late father, Ralph Miliband, was one of the foremost Marxist theorists of the 20th Century, who argued that the Labour Party would never do anything for the working classes.

As a teenager, Ralph Miliband was a Jewish escapee from the Nazis who was given a copy of The Communist Manifesto by a friend who was killed in Auschwitz.