There were three powerful earls with whom he needed to stay on good terms: Godwin of Wessex, Leofric of Mercia, and Siward of Northumbria. Godwin, although English, had been loyal to the Danish Cnut (he married Cnut's sister-in-law, Gytha). "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Edward had to keep close to Godwin for both those reasons.
In 1043, Edward made Godwin's eldest son (who had the Danish name Sweyn) an earl in the south-west Midlands. Godwin's son Harold Godwinson (later King Harold) was also given an earldom in southern England, and a cousin of theirs, Beorn (a nephew of Cnut!), also became an earl in the south. Godwin's family now owned all of southern England.
In January 1045 Edward married Godwin's daughter, Edith of Wessex, ensuring that a grandson of Godwin's could come king after Edward.
Despite all this favoritism shown to Godwin, we cannot forget what happened here: Godwin blinded Edward's brother at an earlier attempt by Edward to return to England. Edward had no love for Godwin, but needed to work with him when necessary for the sake of his own kingdom.
Edward did not do whatever Godwin asked, however. In 1045-46, Magnus the Good was threatening to attack England and re-create his father's empire. The Beorn mentioned above was the younger brother of Sweyn II of Denmark, who subordinated himself to King Edward to gain England's help in making Sweyn king of Denmark. Godwin demanded that Edward send aid to Sweyn, but Edward refused. This could have been disastrous for England, but for the fortunate event of Magnus' unexpected death ending his England aspirations.
Nor did Edward support Godwin's eldest son, Sweyn, when he screwed up, but that's a good story for tomorrow.
