Miliband ‘is getting into his stride’

An ally of Ed Miliband has insisted the Labour leader is “getting into his stride”.

Shadow Cabinet Minister Peter Hain said Mr Miliband, elected leader nine months ago, had been underestimated by his critics and a package of reforms unveiled on Saturday would bring about a “serious transformation” of the Labour Party.

Mr Hain, the Shadow Welsh Secretary who is working with Mr Miliband on the changes, said: “What we are embarking on here is a really serious transformation of a political party, the biggest one undertaken in living memory, because politics has changed and we are a party – like the others are – that is stuck in the past.

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Amid continued questions about Mr Miliband’s performance as leader so far, Mr Hain said: “This is an example of Ed Miliband being prepared to be tough. I think people are underestimating him. I think he’s getting into his stride. His speech on Saturday showed that.”

In the speech to Labour’s National Policy Forum, Mr Miliband set out reforms to make the party less “inward-looking”.

They included scrapping elections to the Shadow Cabinet, putting the ideas of communities in front of Labour’s national policy-setting body and throwing open its annual conferences to non-affiliated charities and groups.

In a move seen as an attempt to diminish the influence of the unions, who provide most of the party’s funding, he said Labour had to re-establish connections with the public.