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10 Prime Ministerial Spouses Who Could Inspire Justine Miliband

How Would Justine Miliband Look On The Door Of No. 10?
Asa Bennett
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ANDREW YATES via Getty Images

Justine Miliband is set to come out of the shadows to support her husband, Ed, in his bid to reach Downing Street next year, declaring: "I am up for a fight, however nasty, however brutal."

The Labour leader has had to battle to prove he is up to being prime minister but how does environmental lawyer Justine Thornton square up against previous prime ministerial spouses?

See also: Justine Miliband Profile: Could Ed's Wife Turn Out To Be His 'Secret Weapon'?

HuffPostUK takes a look at some of the characters and personalities that prime ministers have brought with them into No. 10 to see if Justine Miliband passes the "blink test" to be our own 'First Lady'.

Prime Ministers' Wives - Is Justine Miliband Ready?
Sarah supported her 'hero'...(01 of10)
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Sarah Brown stepped in to rescue her husband Gordon at the Labour Party's 2009 conference, introducing him as her "hero", but that would not be enough to save him from electoral defeat in 2010. (credit:Jeff Moore/Jeff Moore)
Cherie remained sassy...(02 of10)
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Tony Blair's wife Cherie was known for pulling no punches, telling reporters as their family left Downing Street in 2007 for the final time: "I don't think we'll miss you". (credit:JOHNNY EGGITT/AFP/Getty Images)
Norma suffered quietly...(03 of10)
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Norma was publically embarassed after her husband John was forced to admit to having had an affair with fellow Tory MP Edwina Currie.
Denis Thatcher remained ever loyal...(04 of10)
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Asked by reporters who wore the trousers in the Thatcher household, Denis said: "I do. And I wash and iron them." (credit:Associated Press )
Mary Wilson didn't enjoy it...(05 of10)
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Mary Wilson was said to be unhappy at being a "political" wife, leading to the spoof "Mrs Wilson's Diary" in Private Eye magazine. (credit:Central Press/Getty Images)
Elizabeth Douglas-Home racked up the titles...(06 of10)
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Elizabeth Douglas-Home had more names successively in her lifetime than any other once-married only British woman, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, thanks to the various titles they had. Her names were in order: Miss Elizabeth Alington, Lady Dunglass. the Rt Hon The Countess of Home, Lady Douglas-Home and the Rt Hon The Lady Home of the Hirsel. (credit:Evening Standard via Getty Images)
Lady Dorothy Macmillan had a scandalous affair... (07 of10)
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Harold Macmillan's wife, Lady Dorothy, had a 30-year affair with his Tory colleague Robert Boothby that scandalised high society while remaining unknown to the wider public, with the resulting stress believed to have contributed to the Tory leader's nervous breakdown in 1931. (credit:AP Photo/Pool)
Clarissa Eden waded into the Suez crisis(08 of10)
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Anthony Eden's wife Clarissa made her own thoughts known about her husband's military intervention to reclaim the Suez Canal, telling a group of Conservative woman that, "in the past few weeks I have really felt as if the Suez Canal was flowing through my drawing room". She later described this observation as "silly, really idiotic". (credit:Topical Press Agency via Getty Images)
Clemmie Churchill kept Winston in check(09 of10)
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In June 1940, as WWII weighed on Prime Minister Winston Churchill, his wife Clementine wrote to him reminding him to stay calm, warning him that "you are not as kind as you used to be". (credit:Central Press via Getty Images)
And Violet Attlee mucked in...(10 of10)
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Violet Attlee was truly dedicated to her husband Clement, despite being a lifelong Tory voter married to a Labour prime minister.She was constantly at Clement's side at Labour party conferences and at overseas gatherings, and acted as his driver in postwar elections. (credit:Keystone/Getty Images)
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