Labour MP turns on “London elite” Miliband

ED Miliband is so unpopular he will cost Labour votes, one of his own MPs has admitted.
Labour leader Ed MilibandLabour leader Ed Miliband
Labour leader Ed Miliband

Simon Danczuk has said Labour is now led by a “liberal elite” from London and that Ed Miliband is seen as “more of a toff than David Cameron” by voters.

The Rochdale MP said Mr Miliband will “cost me votes” on May 7 because of his unpopularity with the electorate, claiming voters would prefer to go for a pint with the Prime Minister than the Labour leader.

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Mr Danczuk told the New Statesman: “Any Labour politician that says to you they knock on a door and Ed Miliband is popular are telling lies. It’s just not true.

“I spend four hours knocking on doors on a Sunday - they (constituents) say things like, ‘you’re doing an all right job as MP but I don’t want Ed Miliband as Prime Minister, so I won’t vote for you’. So it’ll cost me votes.

“You get it on the doorstep. If we’re having a straight conversation about this, he (Mr Miliband) has an image of being more of a toff than David Cameron. That’s how the public see it.

“And what they mean by that is that he’s seen as more aloof. They’d prefer to go for a pint with David Cameron than they would with Ed Miliband, that’s the reality of it.”

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Mr Danczuk criticised the leadership over the handling of Mr Miliband’s decision to pose with a World Cup edition of The Sun.

And he suggested the party would “undoubtedly” have chosen a different leader in 2010 if it had been aware of the anti-politics mood of the country.

Mr Danczuk later insisted that the comments in the interview did not fully reflect his views.

In a series of Twitter messages he said: “We all have off days. I’d had a very difficult day and was feeling emotional.

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“I do not meet anyone on the doorstep who is enthusiastic about David Cameron. I want Ed Miliband in Downing Street.”

Mr Danczuk said: “The wider point, which was what the interview was supposed to be about, still stands.”