Ed, show people your real character – the play has already started

Politicians have a lot in common with actors. They mount “the world stage” and even have to wear some make up before a TV appearance because of the spotlights upon them.

I am 81, and have been in Labour politics virtually all my life, but I’ve also been an actor and taught drama for some of it. I’ve seen many Prime Ministers come and go. Clem Attlee shook my hand when I was 17 on the stage of the Bristol Old Vic after a show. He wasn’t much to look at. In fact he was small and softly spoken. In spite of what he looked like, I was convinced he was the Prime Minister. He had achieved a landslide victory for Labour. I wasn’t so convinced by Hugh Gaitskell when I sat next to him at a dinner in Driffield. He too readily responded to a waitress who wanted the inside of her thigh autographed! And Harold Wilson had a lot more to put up with than Ed Miliband. It was whispered he was in league with the Russian KGB to get Gaitskell killed in 1963 so that he could become Prime Minister.

Some while ago, I read in an interview with Ed that his alternative choice of career would have been an actor. So we can forgive him for forgetting some of his lines at Conference – there was no prompter. However, if he is a true actor, he will have learnt his lesson already. I’ve also heard it said that Ed is a sincere man. George Bernard Shaw the great Irish playwright once said “The only sincere man is an actor-because he knows when he’s acting!”

The reason for this is a heightened sense of self-awareness. US psychological research shows that actors also have a very well developed imagination (essential for empathy and looking into the future). US management research shows good managers are self-monitoring of their behaviour and have qualities of leadership, because they are aware of others’ needs.

From my experience of truthful actors, they do not act on the surface, which most of the time David Cameron does with his exaggerated facial expressions, PR mantras and posturing declamations.

No, they dig deep into their inner feelings and emotions, as recommended by Stanislavski, the great Russian Director, who rejected the grandiose pretended passions of 19^th-century theatre. He taught that sincerity and naturalism and projection of your own positive emotions was needed. When this happens, people cry and laugh along with the character. This stirring of their emotions satisfies their needs. Remember when Ed did this while the Daily Mail attacked his Dad? His angry authenticity was reflected upwards in the polls.

So, Ed, waiting in the wings, the only way to get over stage fright, is to focus now on your real character. You will convince people if you sincerely believe in the Prime Minister you already are. Be the PM for the downtrodden and the vulnerable, and for the future of our children and grandchildren in a fairer, more equitable and cleaner environment. Be him in every word you say and every move you make. We are no longer in the rehearsal period. The play does not start in May 2015. It has begun.