How Ed Miliband became an unlikely internet sensation

It started not with teenage girls, but with a grown man. The first ever mention of the word “Milifandom” was made last June, when someone tweeted out a story from left wing blog Shifting Grounds about the phone hacking scandal:

https://twitter.com/tsadler2/status/482509247906078720

Then nothing.

Until now. Last night, BuzzFeed published a piece about an emerging ‘fandom’, predominantly among teenage girls, for the Labour leader. At some point over the weekend, some young people decided to formalise their increasing attachment to Ed Miliband by declaring themselves Milifans – proud citizens of a Milifandom.

//ED MILIBAND HAS A FANDOM #milifandom #MilibandMustWin #VoteLabour pic.twitter.com/AEdpJLUDQT

— THE DOCTOR (@doctorfez1) April 20, 2015

The #Milifandom pic.twitter.com/fFksvrpJkR

— abby (@twcuddleston) April 21, 2015

Given wider exposure, the #milifandom hashtag soon started trending on Twitter: first in London, then across the UK. By midnight, there had been 11,500 tweets on the subject.

11.5k HOW pic.twitter.com/M3isEDzw0E

— neelam (@silencewillfaII) April 21, 2015

It started to get picked up by mainstream news outlets, such as The Guardian and BBC News – even Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald was reporting on it. The Daily Express, meanwhile, sombrely noted that the four hour old craze had not delivered a significant poll boost for Labour: But how did it all come about? It did seem to start, at least partly, as a joke, that quickly took on a life of its own. Many of those who consider themselves Milifans are also part of other fandoms – there seems to be regular crossover with devotees of Doctor Who and Sherlock. The commonality here appears to be qualities of nerdiness or awkwardness, with a possible explanation being that the media representation of Ed Miliband is similar to how these characters would be portrayed through the press were they real.

#Milifandom ed used to look a bit like Harry Potter pic.twitter.com/6bhjUdjGC5

— ash miliband (@SPRINGTRAPHAN) April 21, 2015

I AM NOT WORKING TOMORROW PRAISE THE LORD pic.twitter.com/nwmhwIndbO — ellie✨ (@elliegalaxies) April 21, 2015

My birthday is on the 28th this month @Ed_Miliband if you could follow me on this day, then that would be great.

— Sophie Phillips (@Sophiephilips1) April 21, 2015

While this may be one of the most bizarre stories to come out of this election, and the line between celebration and mocking may sometimes seem blurred, it seems that those at the centre of it all do possess some genuine intentions:

Just a message from the official leader of the #Milifandom. #VoteLabour #VoteMiliband pic.twitter.com/2ECk6XZ4IG — abby (@twcuddleston) April 21, 2015