Ah, so that’s why David Cameron didn’t want to debate Ed Miliband. In the nearly five years since Miliband was elected Labour leader, he has suffered the indignity of having a vat of ridicule and bile being slowly poured over his head. A key line of attack to undermine his authority is that he was the “wrong Miliband”, who spitefully trashed the political career of his more charismatic and able brother. Bizarre: the equally wonky but more arrogant and aloof David Miliband would have plunged Labour into civil war with his unrepentant Blairism in the era of austerity. But Miliband has been dogged by disastrous personal ratings, the product of four things: the hangover from a deeply unpopular Labour government that suffered a catastrophic election defeat just five years ago; his own frequent failures to communicate; the shortcomings of his team, who have often boxed their leader in; and an overwhelmingly hostile media – the country’s most powerful political lobbyists – which has no intention of allowing him to become prime minister.

But last night, Miliband won. Yes, I know the reaction polls handed a slim victory to Cameron, but given that the prime minister’s ratings have been consistently much better than Miliband’s, for the gap to be closed so considerably is a triumph. Most of us would prefer to be smothered in honey and locked in a room with a swarm of bad-tempered bees than suffer a 20-minute interrogation by Jeremy Paxman, but Miliband performed well. He even turned the tables, winning applause from the audience when he told his persecutor that it would be the people, not Paxman, who would decide the election. It was a little reminder of those moments when Miliband has shone in the past few years, when he has confronted the powerful: the Murdoch empire, the Daily Mail, the energy companies. Few will have watched last night’s non-debate, but it will have three key effects: boosting the often flagging morale of Labour activists and supporters; giving Ed Miliband renewed confidence in the final few weeks of the campaign; and disrupting the narrative of Labour’s useless joke of a leader.

And yet I found myself dogged by frustration. Yes, sure, I know he confronts a bitterly hostile media which savages him over how he eats bacon sandwiches and his kitchen arrangements. But the passion, determination and steel he showed last night – why isn’t it demonstrated more often, more consistently? That’s what he now has to put right.

Labour’s leading figures collectively allowed the myth to flourish that overspending caused the crisis, even though the Tories backed their spending plans pound for pound and wanted even less regulation for the banks. They failed to offer short, sharp messages and commitments, constantly repeated, instead settling on policy wonkery, random messages thrown into the ether (remember “the British promise”?) which were quickly abandoned, or gave set-piece speeches in the middle of the day with virtually nobody watching. They presided over their collapse in Scotland by allying with the Tories, instead of setting up their own separate and vehemently anti-Tory campaign. They failed to settle on a coherent, radical programme at a time of social and economic crisis, with commitments such as an £8 per hour minimum wage by 2020 (which still would not even approach the living wage). No wonder they haemorrhage votes to their left – the SNP and the Greens – and fail to produce enough excitement and enthusiasm to eclipse the obsessive media personality attacks.

And yet – despite all these continuing failures – Labour and the Tories are evenly matched in the opinion polls, and Lord Ashcroft’s detailed constituency polls suggest Labour is outpolling the Tories in the marginals. That was not where the Tories expected to be at this stage, and they are not comfortable with it. Yes, the Tories anticipate that as the choice becomes ever more real over the coming weeks, the voters will finally, definitively turn in their direction. The media onslaught will escalate as election day approaches. There will be renewed campaigns against immigrants, benefit claimants and public sector workers. A sustained and meaningful Tory lead in those circumstances is possible.

But maybe – just maybe – if Miliband shows the same passion and grit that he did last night, and gives a clear vision of hope when life is so hard for so many, the Tory game plan could continue to falter. No pressure, Ed. But millions want hope, and they want this lot out. Don’t let them down.