Miliband ‘an unpopular toff costing us votes’ – Lab MP

Labour has been hijacked by a north London liberal elite that doesn’t connect with the party’s core followers – and Ed Miliband is seen as more of a toff than David Cameron: most voters would prefer to have a pint with Cameron than the Labour leader.

This devastating indictment comes from the prominent Labour backbencher Simon Danczuk, Labour MP for Rochdale, in an interview with 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,” said Danczuk.

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“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.”

Danczuk claims these voters are turned off because Miliband comes across “as being more of a toff that 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.”

Looking ahead, Danczuk says Labour will have a real problem if they don’t “realign themselves” after the general election… “if they don't start thinking afresh about how they approach politics and how they involve people at a community level.”

Danczuk added: 'You know, this north London elite view of the world, just doesn't play in Rochdale, Rotherham, Runcorn or anywhere else beginning with an 'r' outside the M25.”

Danczuk gave his interview to the Statesman’s Ashley Cowburn, who wrote: “This scathing criticism… will be an embarrassing blow for the Labour party. Not to mention a complete denunciation of Miliband’s biography and media strategy.”

In a series of tweets – possibly after a phone call from Labour HQ - Danczuk tried to row back.

“That NS interview does not fully reflect my views,” he wrote. “We all have off days. I’d had a very difficult day & was feeling emotional…”

In a second tweet, he added: “I do not meet anyone on the doorstep who is enthusiastic about David Cameron. I want Ed Miliband in Downing Street.”

Finally, “The wider point, which was what the interview was supposed to be about, still stands. Politics needs to reconnect with working people.”

By then, of course, it was a little late. The Daily Mail quoted a delighted Tory party chairman, Grant Shapps, claiming that Danczuk's remarks proved that even Miliband’s own backbenchers know he “just isn’t up to the job”.

“He is a weak leader who it utterly out of touch with the lives and concerns of hardworking taxpayers.”