Ed gets his Mili-bonus

So Stephen Hester won’t be getting his bonus, having decided to decline it in fear that the commons would vote to take it from him. It’s hard not to feel a little sorry for the RBS boss. Not because he won’t be getting his bonus (he’s already more than adequately renumerated), but because he has become something of a public hate figure of late, which seems a tad unfair. After all, he’s not Fred Goodwin is he? Although I wouldn’t go as far as Tory MP Mark Field who described the hunt for Hester’s bonus as a “lynch mob”. Field is the MP for the city and seems to have got a tad carried away…

But if Hester hasn’t got him bonus, Miliband has certainly got his, and deservedly. His move to hold an opposition day debate was pivotal in forcing Hester to “think again” and as was the case over BSkyB, Miliband is both on the side of the public, and has gained from being bold. That will strengthen the hand of those in the Miliband camp who want to see a bolder Miliband in 2012. Not “Let Ed be Ed” exactly (especially as Miliband appears to be something of a cautious character, often at crucial times), but instead “Let Ed be bold”.

What Miliband must do now is make sure he maintains his momentum. What we clearly saw post-phone hacking was that he can seize the initiative and spot a passing bandwagon, yet his natural reasonableness allows him to do this without looking like a bandwagon jumper. Yet that same reasonableness also seems to be a momentum killer, which has led some to question wither he has the requisite killer instinct. After phone hacking his personal ratings spiked, yet soon after they were back where they’d been before.

Ed at times seems happy to win (or at least change) the debate without getting the credit for it. A smart manoeuvre this weekend has allowed him to gain the upper hand, but Cameron is a canny operator. He’s been saved an embarrassing commons vote by an even more embarrassed Hester – and dodged a sizeable bullet. Ed now needs to press home his advantage – whilst he still has one – lest he comes the Andy Murray of Westminster.

An intelligent exponent of the game, but unless he’s able to drive home an advantage – not a winner.