My family & I have never voted The Labour party in the past, following recent events &leadership Ed has shown to the country specially with regards to the disgusting NoW co. Ed will definitely going to get our votes, thanks Ed for fighting the tyrants & taking care of the law abiding people & innocent...

Kenny, we may not get to vote for the Prime Minister but it's amazing how many of the electorate believe otherwise. In any case, it would be naive to think that a party leader's popularity (or otherwise) has no bearing on its electoral prospects. Why else would Labour and Tory backbenchers have forced out even their most successful leaders?

Who would have thought it? Labour have an inspirational leader and more importantly one with imagination. Imagination was the one thing David Milliband had none of(as well as a having too many blairish skeletons in the cupboard like rendition).

David Milliband could not have done what Ed has done in the past two weeks - I'll bet Labour are now relieved they picked Ed rather then David as leader.

Luddite keeps forgetting what he writes.

He wrote working folk wouldn't vote for Miliband, yet he is 4 for 4 in by-elections.

Didn't William Hague state that President Assad was a " reformer "

My understanding of the Ralph and Marion Miliband, is that they escaped Hitler's persecution.

Ralph Miliband served in the Royal Navy, during World War 2, and worked as a bus driver after the war.

I bet Luddite wished Ralph and Marion had ended up in Belsen or Auschwitz.

think about it...

I think a cvertain cautionary note needs yo be interjected here. Ed got my vote a long time ago for the leadership of the Party, because I felt instinctively that he would be able to put the Balir/Brown years behind us and move the Perty on. Unlike his much more favoured (in our media at least) brother. He has thankfully repaid that faith I had in him and demonstrated this over the past couple of weeks.

However, there is a long way to go.

The Tories are setting the agenda again and have cleaverly manouvered the political/economic debate onto their natural territory. This phone hacking scandal has proved a useful distraction for Labour, who up and until a few weeks ago had absolutely no answers (at least none that were resonating with the public), by way of challenging what the Tories are doing with the British economy.

The focus now has to be back on Labour's alternative to Tory policy. It has to be credible and it has to be argued for. All I keep hearing is how necessary are the cuts the Tories are making and it's a pain that we are all going to have to get used to in order to come out of this better off. Personally I don't buy it.

But the case for doing it differently still has to be argued for in a consistent and forceful manner. Because believe you me, the Tories have their plans fairly well worked out and they are not going to be easily swayed from continuing along with them. And despite the demise of part of their main cheerleader's coterie, the Tory Party still has most of the British media on their side.

the polls are moving in the right direction. which is the important thing.

its interesting. i saw someone recently saying that ed miliband was a bit like john major, in that he had this dull geeky intellectualism about him, and it may well be that after the phone hacking scandal that may actually be what the country wants.

as long as he resists attempts to turn him into the next blair he could just about get there.