If we learnt nothing else from this afternoon’s question-and-answer session that Ed Miliband held with delegates, it’s that Labour delegates are quite as eccentric as Liberal Democrat members, if not more so. The junior coalition partner has long enjoyed the reputation of having an eclectic following, but those gathered in Labour’s hall had bought an equally surreal selection of props with them today. They were waving Welsh flags, builder’s helmets, sparkly bags, light-up handheld fans, light-up pens, scarves, crutches, something that looked strangely like a strip light, flashing lights, and open umbrellas.
The idea, as well as making the conference hall look rather like a bazaar, was to catch Ed Miliband’s attention by vigorously waving said strange object. Wearing red also worked a treat (Ed clearly works on the same basis as Leftwing Dating when identifying loyal lefties), although when he picked one ‘lady in red’, she announced proudly that he’d given her a kiss at the Labour south east conference.
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