Miliband’s hulking limestone election symbol, whose whereabouts has become a media obsession, is understood to be under lock and key in the capital

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Ed Miliband is licking his wounds in Ibiza but his much maligned “Ed Stone” has suffered a less glamorous exit from the spotlight and is languishing in a south London garage, the Guardian has learned.

The 2.6 metre-high, two-ton stone was unveiled with great fanfare in the marginal seat of Hastings, and featured Labour’s six key election promises. It was intended as a symbol of how Miliband would restore trust in politics.

With Labour defeated, and the stone’s promises summarily rejected, newspapers were offering rewards including a case of champagne in return for news of the tablet’s whereabouts.

The Guardian understands that the party has ensured the limestone hulk is kept under lock and key, to avoid any discovery which might cause further embarrassment.

Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) For those in search of the #EdStone I have the first clue. It is in a garage in South London under lock adnd key. More follows.

The rightwing press has so far been thwarted in its efforts to find the stone, despite the Sun newspaper setting up a dedicated “Ed Stone hotline”.

The Telegraph called the mystery of the Ed Stone the election’s “most tantalising riddle” and contacted more than 50 masonry firms, with no luck finding who had crafted it.

Shadow ministers have attempted to deflect any mention of it. “I have no idea where it is,” Labour’s Liz Kendall told presenter Andrew Neil on the BBC’s Sunday Politics when he asked for information. He raised the Ed Stone question even before he asked if she was running for leader, which she is.

The acting Labour leader, Harriet Harman, was terse when she was asked about the stone on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Did the tablet of stone cause us to lose the election? Well, I can give you one very definitive answer on that: no, it didn’t,” she said.

“I don’t where it is and I don’t know what’s going to happen to it either and it actually doesn’t matter.”

No Labour MP has dared speak openly about the stone’s location, but several had harsh words for the stunt. “I just shrugged my shoulders; I couldn’t believe it,” John Mann, the outspoken Labour backbencher, told the BBC.

Michael Dugher, the shadow transport minister, called it a “balls-up ... a 12ft, granite, marble, cock-up” in an interview with the New Statesman.