Ed Miliband: My wife thought #Milifandom was a case of mistaken identity

2:55 PM

A member of the audience uses his phone to photograph Britain's Labour Party leader Ed Miliband gestures during a speech at a campaign event in Pensby northern England

He’s not so clear about what fandom is, though his appreciation is certainly tinged with a little confusion when he says: “It’s very nice of those people who have joined this thing to be being nice about me.”

Asked about the phenomenon on The Jeremy Vine show he said: “So I found out about it last night and I told my wife about it and she thought it must be a case of mistaken identity. I then tried to convince her that it wasn’t a case of mistaken identity and she went from sort of amused to bemused.

“To be fair to the young woman who set the whole thing up, as I understand it, she’s seriously talking about the voice of young people in politics and I think there’s a serious point here, which is hearing the voices of young people in our politics I think young people in our country feel this generation, our generation has done them in.”

He is then shown a tweet in which a Milifan says they’ll die happy if they get to meet Ed Miliband. He adds: “OK I’m definitely blushing now. I certainly wouldn’t claim to be cool, by the way, I don’t think I’ve ever been called that.

“It’s very nice of those people who have joined this thing to be being nice about me, but I think they’re making a serious point about young people in our politics as well.”