Politics: What Miliband has learnt from Thatcher

Ed Miliband could be excused for indulging in some comfort television.

Ed Miliband could be excused for indulging in some comfort television. He has returned from honeymoon to find himself torn to shreds in the press, put on probation by anonymous ‘Blairite’ ministers and humiliated by David Cameron in parliament, and his relationship with his brother is under the microscope again. But if Miliband were to flop down on the sofa, he might find salvation — or at least the hope of it — on DVD.

As someone who grew up in immersed in politics on both sides of the Atlantic, Miliband is naturally a fan of The West Wing. This US drama charts the presidency of Jed Bartlet, an academic turned politician, and is a paean to the virtue of government. Underpinning it is the belief that the world would be a better place if it was run by high-minded, educated lefties like Miliband.

One of Miliband’s favourite episodes is called ‘Let Bartlet be Bartlet’. In it, the Democratic president finds his standing plummeting as he runs away from his principles in order to pursue a series of small-bore initiatives. When he decides to be true to his convictions, his poll ratings begin to rise. It doesn’t take much to see why the episode appeals to Miliband. He is even given to quoting lines from it to his staff. At one level, the plot is Hollywood fantasy; if only politicians were more left-wing the public would rally to them. But the lesson that Miliband takes from it is that the electorate can sniff out a fake: nothing is more damaging to a politician than the stench of artifice.

Just consider Ed Miliband’s political patron, Gordon Brown, who always feared that he was too left-wing and Scottish for middle England.