No Etonian?

On the road yesterday from office to office I had the good fortune of listening to Ed Miliband's speech from the Labour Party Conference in Manchester. Very quickly it become clear that the speech was powerful - to me not so much about him as a person, where he went to school and which hospital he attended, but more when he appealed as 'empathetic' towards ex-Labour voters who he understood had switched their loyalties to voting Conservative at the last election.

Between 1997 and 2010 under Blair, and ultimately Gordon Brown the Labour Party lost five million votes. Miliband, under his new branding of 'One Nation' and positioning Labour in the 'centre ground' of British politics vacated by Cameron and the Coalition, is now calculating his new found confidence will build his profile until the next election in 2015.

Speeches and oratorial eloquence can be lines in the sand; shifts in confidence; winning the debate; being perceived differently 'before and after' dialogue and language make an individual seem different for one reason or another. 

Made without notes on the day, the speech in previous drafts was 6,000 words - he actually spoke 7,500 words - which I suppose outlines his rise in confidence as his adrenalin, courage and faith progressed during the hour of his speech.

So I think we have possibly seen a different side to Ed Miliband - a side which portrays him as a leader with charisma and leadership acumen and a personality - especially when he had the balls to challenge ex-Labour voters about their previous voting history.

In addition to the above it will be fascinating to see Cameron's and the Tory parties response in Birmingham next week. With so many angles surrounding Disraeli being the first politician to outline 'One Nation' as a Conservative MP, the analogies should evoke a robust counter attack. 

Co-incidentally further, No Etonian is an anagram of One Nation - David Cameron probably at the moment the most famous old Etonian other than Boris Johnson, currently another personality attacking Cameron on a more subtle basis.

However, Johnson has gained plaudits for his personality and character as an ex-MP and London Mayor for speaking. Is Red Ed in that calibre - maybe yes in my view!