Hundreds of new members join the Labour Party

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By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Since Ed Miliband became leader of the Labour Party just over 24 hours ago, over 700 people (and counting) have joined the Labour Party, including hundreds of women and young people. It is expected that the numbers will soon reach 1000, probably within the next few hours.

This surge of new support is perhaps indicitive on Ed’s ability to inspire the public as I said last night. He speech yesterday on winning the leadership contest was, I am informed, pitched at the country rather than the party. His article in the Telegraph this morning was smart politics – setting out Ed’s centre-ground views and his commitment to the squeezed middle of British politics, as well as neutralising coverage from a potentially hostile newspaper. His interview with Andrew Marr, although defensive at times, has been on high rotation today, with some excellent lines from Ed.

Conference today seems more subdued than yesterday, but that seems largely down to sore heads rather than any particular lack of enthusiasm. The party feels united – and with these new members, we start to look ahead to Tuesday, and the new leader’s speech. Expect that too to be pitched to the country rather than the crowd in the hall, but if the membership boost of the last 24 hours is anything to go by, the country likes what it sees so far.

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