Election 2015: not exactly the golden age of campaigning
Two or three hundred people had gathered in the square outside Hornsey town hall, many of them armed with red and yellow Labour placards, balloons and the party’s distinctive round stick-on badges. All waiting in the sun for their leader to arrive.
There was an optimistic, carnival atmosphere. And a great sense of anticipation.
This was clearly a Labour rent-a-crowd – party members and activists from the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency and beyond.
How had they got here? Emails had gone out; calls had been made; and it was word of mouth.
But it wasn’t entirely a rent-a-crowd. On the fringes various people had drifted along, curious as to what was happening and what Mr Miliband might say.
Press scrum outside north London ice cream parlour – inside Ed Miliband pic.twitter.com/qi5dbEiksK
— Tim Bouverie (@TimPBouverie) April 16, 2015
As he arrived I tried to ask him about David Axelrod, Labour’s American adviser, who, it is reported, is being paid £300,000 for his words of wisdom but has not paid UK tax on that. Many critics think this is hypocritical given Labour’s stance on non-doms.
Ed Miliband speaks to crowd in Horney and Wood Green for just 5 mins
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) April 16, 2015
I had no success with my questions as Labour officials grabbed me and my cameraman and stopped us getting near Mr Miliband.
He then delivered one of the shortest stump speeches on record. I thought it was about five minutes; colleagues said it was more like three. Perhaps he might take questions. But there were no questions.
No more soapbox
Instead he went round the corner to an ice-cream cafe called Riley’s and spent almost an hour inside chatting to people. As we weren’t allowed in it wasn’t entirely clear what kind of people.
They seemed to be pretty sympathetic to Labour already.
A woman on the doorstep kept telling Labour officials that she was disabled and wanted to ask Mr Miliband whether he’d abolish Atos disability tests. Eventually the party let her in – perhaps because it was better than letting her do media interviews outside about how she wasn’t being let in.
Ed Miliband left Hornsey cafe without paying for cappuccino says waiter, though he doesn’t seem too concerned about it
— Michael Crick (@MichaelLCrick) April 16, 2015
Afterwards Mr Miliband walked a few yards along the street and shook hands with a few members of the public, though such was the media scrum there wasn’t much time to talk.
Eventually, after a lot more pushing a shoving by Labour officials, I got my questions in. The Labour leader didn’t answer.
That’s odd really, because there’s a perfectly good answer. David Axelrod lives and works in the US, and Americans have to pay US tax on their worldwide earnings. In any case, he’s not been seen in Britain for months. It’s not even clear whether he is still advising Labour.
What happened this morning is far from the open campaigning of years gone by, when Harold Wilson or Ted Heath would do genuine walkabouts. Nor is there the spontaneity of John Major’s soapbox elections of 1992 and 1997.
There are much bigger security concerns these days, of course, and a lot more TV channels trying to grab a bit of the action. And journalists are a lot less respectful and deferential.
Follow @MichaelLCrick on Twitter