Morale-boosting Miliband shows he’s more than a match for Cameron

The impact of last night’s pseudo-debate on the polls is yet to be seen.

The impact on the mood of the Labour Party though is obvious and significant.

Before Miliband and Cameron took to the stage in the Sky studio, the general mood amongst grassroots supporters was gritty determination tinged with realism. A Labour majority looks far-fetched. A fight to be the largest party in a complex and messy Parliament is not the stuff that political dreams are made of. And Miliband, although liked by the party faithful, had not inspired enough, nor given sufficient performances to stir the soul and put some lead in the party’s collective pencil.

Last night, he did that in spades – especially in his clashes with Paxman. Whether it was the slightly scripted “hell yes”, the undaunted tussling with Paxman or perhaps a reminder of what Miliband can be when he’s at his best – Miliband has reminded the Labour Party why and how he can be so effective. I’ve had my criticisms of Miliband – and still do – but I can empathise with the activist who told me “next time some says they’re not sure about Ed, I can say – did you see him take on Paxman? He’s tough”.

There’s not wrong. But first, lets start with Cameron. Beforehand some wondered if self-confessed Tory Paxo would be willing to take the debate to the Prime Minister. They needn’t have been concerned. Paxman rolled back the years with a vintage performance, more of a firebombing than a grilling. Within two minutes the audience were laughing as Cameron floundered. Then Paxman hit him again – Clarkson, Coulson, Green – a list of the disreputable rogues that the PM associates with. Cameron was savaged over zero hours contracts, the NHS and food banks. When the eighteen minute segment came to an end Cameron had the look of a man who has just found his missing wallet in the used kitty litter.

Jeremy tore Cameron apart like I tear through a Big Mac – quick, ugly and effective.

It akin to seeing a wendy house get hit by a train.

And yet the audience question section couldn’t have been more different for him. Aided by a hands-off Kay Burley, he was able to ramble aimlessly in response to each and every question, minimising the number he had to face, and raising his performance from the embarrassing to the passable. It was like watching a football match where the players try and keep the ball in the corner for the whole game – a dull but effective way to pass the time if you’re trying not to lose or be in any way memorable. It was clearly a rehearsed tactics, but Burley seemed not to notice.

Or did she? Because a few moments later when Ed Miliband took to the stage, Burley was all fire and brimstone. She interjected and interrupted. She questioned Miliband’s answers. She sought out skeptical audience member and ensured he was handed the microphone. Nothing wrong with any of this of course – but if someone can’t moderate in a balanced and objective way, they shouldn’t be moderating at all.

And yet – despite all of this – Miliband took the audience questions (tougher questions than Cameron’s by far) in his stride. The first question was a stinker about why Miliband is “gloomy” yet turned the question on its head to win the first spontaneous round of applause of the night. He bounced back and forth between lecturn and stage, adopting what looked like a practised powerpose. But it was convincing. As he stood, feet planted widely at the centre of the stage, he looked like a leader. The night would be a genuine contest after all.

Straight questions deserve straight answers. That’s one thing we’ve learned this week, and Miliband lived out that mantra through bombardments about his brother. When the person who asked about Miliband the elder was questioned after the show, he described Ed’s answer as “great” “wonderful” and “honest”. Yet that didn’t stop bruiser Burley, who at one went as far as to worry about Miliband’s poor mum. As Mili-mother escaped from Europe during the Holocaust to make a life for herself in the UK, I’m betting she’ll be absolutely fine. And so was Miliband. Not given a free ride like Cameron, but handling tough questions well, and getting the applause to match.

But afterwards came the real Paxman. A pumped up, adrenaline-infused Paxman. Fresh from his earlier kill, the old killer stalked his new prey, lashing out at a difficult topic for Labour – immigration. Miliband had his first real wobble of the night, yet Paxman let him off the hook by shouting number like a Migration Watch bingo-caller “70 million, 75 million…100 million!”. Because that’s how politics works – pick a number. Any number.

Yet Paxman wouldn’t be deterred. He needled Miliband for not answering his questions, he put the Labour leader under real pressure, and for a moment Miliband looked evasive, and stumbled.

And then something amazing happened. Miliband started fighting back. And hard. “Now you’re asking yourself questions”, sassed the Labour leader at the warhorse of political interviews. And then another “You’re important Jeremy, but you don’t get to decide the election results six weeks beforehand”. The dam burst, Paxman’s pomposity pricked. The applause rippled down from the audience. Paxman allowed his challenger a wry smile. Miliband joked about Cameron on the tube. And then on into the final strait – “Am I tough, hell yes” the Labour leader somewhat cornily but endearingly hit back at the claim he’d be bossed by Putin, and then a final rat,tat,tat exposition of why he’s the right person to lead Britain.

He’d managed to escape Paxman without getting savaged. More than that – he’d managed to escape Paxman with applause. Duffed up, sure (who isn’t when up against Paxo in such form) but not wounded. Not like Cameron’s earlier savaging.

There was one more bear trap to avoid though. As the cameras panned away, Paxman loudly and deliberately asked Ed if he was alright. It looked patronising, and could have wounded Miliband, had he not fired back the right response – “Yes, are you?”

And he was alright you know. Better than alright. he was good. He has made the question about who is best to lead Britain a serious contest. Normally Cameron runs away with any poll that compares him with Miliband. Last night the gap was 8 points. It seemed harsh on Miliband, but not when compared to where the two men started. And now when you look at undecided voters, who broke almost 2-1 in favour of Labour.

Of course a “debate” won’t win the election. It may have only the most marginal impact. It may be forgotten come election day, after a few more of these set piece events. But if it has an impact at all, it will be to remind those who have underestimated Miliband, who have traduced him, mocked him and written him off, that he’s a more than capable politician on his day. That’s not to ignore his flaws or excuse the mistakes that he has doubtless made. But a few more days like this in the coming weeks and he may just get to show he’d be a capable Prime Minister too, with a far more energised party behind him.