Miliband’s challenge

One of the striking things about politics at the moment is that Ed Miliband is proving adept at spotting issues that are going to become big — think the squeezed middle, energy prices — but is failing to drive home this advantage. There’s scant evidence that, for instance, the voters regard Miliband as the solution to the problem of rising energy bills.

I suspect that the coalition’s plans to make it easier for people to switch tariff and supplier will cut through with the public more than Miliband’s speeches on the issue. In part, this is the natural advantage of incumbency — governments can actually do things.

But the challenge for Miliband’s operation is to make him appear a more effectual figure. For instance, I suspect very few voters know that the chief executive of Scottish and Southern Energy credited Miliband’s speech with his decision to sell the company’s electricity on the open market.