Ed Miliband is having a fantastic General Election campaign. It’s just a shame it’s two years too late They say a week is a long time in politics. Well two years is proving to be an absolute age […]

They say a week is a long time in politics.

Well two years is proving to be an absolute age for Ed Miliband, who spent the 2015 election being labelled a so-called “weirdo” with two kitchens and an inability to eat a bacon sandwich, to this campaign where he is proving to be a bit of a local hero.

The former Labour leader has won praise this week for his unique take on “grassroots” campaigning after being pictured mowing a voter’s lawn.

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“Aw, lovely Ed,” wrote one admirer on Facebook. “One of my favourite politicians,” said another. “Seriously like Ed, always have done. Another genuine guy,” wrote another.

https://twitter.com/MattTurner4L/status/859435642719219712

Ed Miliband’s transformation

Miliband has enjoyed something of a transformation since stepping out of the limelight.

He endured a torrid time in the 2015 election campaign, characterised as a “weirdo” who couldn’t eat a bacon sandwich properly by the right-wing press.

While the electorate ultimately didn’t vote in Labour’s favour, many appear to have changed their tune.

“He was too hemmed in as leader, and, now he can relax a bit, he can unleash a devastating tweet, or come up with this sort of thing,” one Milifan noted underneath pictures of the MP manning a Flymo.

‘We should talk’

Miliband has grown a reputation as a free-talking “sass machine” since turning to the back benches.

Even the Telegraph, one of whose journalists described him as a “backstabbing geek” in 2015, has changed its tune and recently described him as “king of the Twitter burn“.

Perhaps restrained by the pressure of leadership in 2015, the MP for Doncaster North used to send out relatively bland policy announcements and party slogans.

Now, he has shown a penchant for self-deprecating humour whilst calling out the opposition.

When Theresa May was pictured awkwardly eating a portion of chips on the campaign trail in Cornwall this week, Miliband, with a nod to his infamous sandwich moment, told the Prime Minister on Twitter: “We should talk.”

That was just the latest in a series of “sassy” messages from the former Labour leader that have drawn praise.

This, as George Osborne was appointed editor of the Evening Standard:

Breaking: I will shortly be announced as editor of Heat magazine…. — Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) March 17, 2017

This, as the Conservative Party aped his energy price cap policy (announced in 2013):

Tories in for kicking from Sun and Mail tomorrow for energy policy.Just wait: Marxist madness, anti-business, back to 70s… — Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) April 23, 2017

This, on David Cameron’s 2015 promise to lead a “strong and stable government“:

Strong & Stable Gov 1 (2015):PM resigns, manifesto shredded, Scottish independence threat, election called, man buys shed. Fancy the sequel? — Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) April 30, 2017

As another exasperated supporter recently mused: “Where was this Ed Miliband in the last election?”