What Ed Miliband got right

We’re republishing our ten most-read articles of 2015 and no8 is from Peter Oborne in defence of Ed Miliband. The Spectator has a proud tradition of running well-written features that go against the magazine’s own political sympathies and challenging conventional wisdom. In the end, Miliband lost – but on election day every opinion poll and bookmaker had him on course to win – or, at least, deny Cameron a majority. And those who think that Miliband’s manifesto was a pile of guff should ask why George Osborne has now implemented so much of it. Oborne’s piece is a wonderful example of the argument that almost prevailed.

We also include his discussion with Dan Hodges.

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<h3>Listen</h3>
[/audioplayer]Most political commentators consider Ed Miliband a useless leader. In a narrow sense they are right. He is not very good at getting a positive press or eliciting the support of important outside voices in the media and the business community.