If Ed Miliband becomes Prime Minister, will he have the British press to thank?

David Cameron is not keen on scrutiny. Since becoming Prime Minister, he has appeared in the media very little and under very controlled circumstances. Rare was it to see him confronted by Andrew Marr, Jeremy Paxman et al. He hasn’t held regular monthly press conferences (as both his predecessors did) since July 2011. And the saga of his ducking and diving (for cover) over the debates is well known.

I think it can safely be said that a lack of scrutiny has not been Ed Miliband’s problem. It is the job of the Leader of the Opposition to get yourself seen and heard as much as possible and despite an incredible onslaught of criticism both fair and petty, Miliband has carried on regardless. In doing so, he has developed his abilities. The Leader who once repeated himself woodenly with a line over strikes is now long gone – replaced with a man comfortable in his own geekdom but equally with a confidence that he can run the country and offer a new vision for it.

It can never be said that Miliband has had an easy run from the media. But perhaps in some ways, his has been the experience better able to prepare him for the gruelling short campaign. Because of the two it is Miliband who has risen above expectations and Cameron who has underperformed.

It is worth mentioning at this point, that part of Cameron’s trouble here is the expectation management of his own side. One has to wonder what Lynton Crosby is being paid his £500,000 for. By centring their whole initial campaign on “fear of Ed Miliband” the Tories built up such a picture of a hapless bogeyman that all Ed had to do was arrive at the debates on time and not eat a bacon sandwich to defy expectations. That instead he came relatively polished, feisty and ready to take on all comers meant that he not just exceeded the very low bar the Tories had set for him, he soared over it. It has been this that set the panic dogs running in the Tory campaign leading to the horrific, anti-democratic and anti-Unionist scaremongering about the SNP.

From the beginning of the official campaign period, Cameron has not performed well. He looked nervous throughout his appearance with Paxman (less so during his audience participation exercise, but he spun his questions out for so long it appeared an exercise in shiftiness not a relishing of the chance to engage the public) and bored and disdainful during the one debate he turned up at. A Prime Minister whose pitch is confident leadership should not be nervous of an interview, but one who rarely subjects himself to such a grilling is bound to be. Like all things, you get better with experience.

Cameron’s experience of public jousting has largely been in the bear pit of PMQs where he has 300 odd MPs cheering him on loudly. Like a football team (let’s call them West Villa) that can’t find its feet on away turf, Cameron simply hasn’t prepared himself enough for the intense scrutiny of the short campaign and it shows. If you are going to make a key plank of your pitch for government the difference in leadership qualities between Miliband and Cameron, you need to make sure he shows up – both physically and spiritually. This does not involve weird faking of passion that makes even your most cheerleading newspapers cringe.

Natural charm and charisma only take you so far, and Cameron may have rested on the laurels of his for too long. His was an easier experience as Leader of the Opposition than Miliband’s has been. And due in part to his own skills and thanks to a largely supportive media his has been an easier premiership than his predecessor.  I am sure he would trade with neither in terms of their overall experiences.

But Miliband’s long haul over the brutal coals of the British press have toughened him up in a way that has been extraordinarily visible during this campaign in a way the Tories simply don’t seem to have bargained for. He has made the contrast with the lacklustre Cameron seem vast and it is paying Labour dividends in a rapid narrowing of the gap between the two in their personal ratings and the sense of upbeat momentum felt both by and about the Labour Party.

A week is a long time in politics. The next seven days will feel like a lifetime. The election is genuinely too close to call – a result few thought Miliband could achieve. If he gets over the line, he may (at least in part) have his gruelling five years at the hands of the British press to thank for getting him ready. Now wouldn’t that be a rather delicious irony.