Former Labor leader Ed Miliband and comedian Russell Brand
As Sir Keir Starmer considers his strategy for winning the general election, he will want to avoid repeating the tricks that backfired on Ed Miliband when he met Russell Brand eight years ago.
So we can probably assume he won't be beating his way to the door of Lucy Powell, who he made shadow leader of the House of Commons earlier this month. According to former members of Miliband's team, the then 40-year-old MP for Manchester Central played a crucial role in arranging Brand's infamous interview, despite the misgivings of older, wiser advisers.
Brand was already a controversial figure at this point, having been charged with indecent exposure early in his career, not to mention being sacked from various jobs for an offensive prank directed at Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs, who had cross-dressed that day Osama bin Laden. after 9/11 and reading porn live. However, he was also a darling of the left, telling his followers that the Tories needed to be «stopped» and this put him firmly on the Labor Party's radar.
He shot himself in the foot with Ed Stone's laughable «Ed Stone» campaign promises. and after being informed that the postal vote was going against Labour, «Red Ed» was desperate to salvage his fading hopes and naively agreed to a hastily arranged interview in Brand's kitchen 10 days before polling day in 2015. , which will be broadcast on Brand's YouTube channel.
Voter apathy among young people was identified as a major part of the problem and so, as one source put it: «It wasn't a crazy idea to get someone who had a large following among young people to persuade them to vote and vote for the Labor Party.» .
However, the idea that this person would be Russell Brand was something of a madness.
Brand had a million subscribers on his YouTube show “The Trews.” Photo: YouTube
Although he had not been publicly accused of rape at the time, which he denies, he was an unpredictable former heroin addict whose misogyny permeated his comedy routines. In his autobiographies, he described compiling a «victim list» of women whom he had «hurt because of my sex addiction» and also stated that «80 percent of women are ready for a threesome.»
However, Brand, who had a million subscribers to his YouTube show The Trews, which presented his views on the media, and 9.5 million Twitter followers, was seen as someone Miliband could do business with. From Brand's perspective, the deal with the devil not only guaranteed even more visitors to his YouTube channel, but also elevated his status as an alternative yet influential voice (YouTube suspended all of Brand's earnings from his channel).
Former Miliband aides say it was Powell, vice-chair of the Labor Party's 2015 election campaign, who «brought the idea» before it was eventually endorsed by the campaign team chaired by David Axelrod, an American political consultant who previously worked as advisor to Barack Obama. election strategist.
Powell was an MP for only two and a half years, but Miliband quickly promoted her to junior positions in the party, who saw a bright future for her in the party. Other members of Miliband's inner circle during the election campaign included Professor Mark Steers and Lord Wood, both left-wing Oxford academics; press chief Bob Roberts, a former tabloid journalist; Spencer (now Lord) Livermore, who was Gordon Brown's chief strategist in No11 and No10; Head of Communications Tom Baldwin; Chief of Staff Tim Livesey, a former monk; policy director Thorsten Bell, now executive director of the economic think tank Resolution Foundation; and Scottish MP Douglas Alexander, who stood in for Axelrod when he was in the US.
Photos of Miliband visiting Brand's home, leaked to newspapers the day before the interview was published online. Photo: Russell Brand/YouTube
Not all of them were convinced by Powell's idea. «There were a few people who said, 'Russell Brand, is this really what we want?'» says one former aide. “He was a guy who admitted to being a sex addict and who was on edge. Some people questioned whether this was the image of the Prime Minister. But there were good reasons for this because of the problem with turnout among young people.”
Some feared Brand's interview would erase coverage of a carefully orchestrated attack on the value of Tory election promises by Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor. They were right, of course, especially when photographs of Miliband visiting Brand's home were leaked to newspapers the day before the interview was published online, meaning Labor had lost control of the narrative.
“ It was fucked up,” one source said. “We never found out who leaked the photos, but it became a story about Ed Miliband seeking celebrity support rather than a story about young people being told to use their voice.”
Another big beast of the Labor Party had previously laid the groundwork for the interview. Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former combative communications director, was previously a guest on The Trews and reportedly gave Brand some advice on how to attract political leaders to his show. He also offered occasional advice to Miliband and his team.
He said at the time: “I, for one, was delighted to hear Ed Miliband say yes… to what Russell Brand says and does , matters more than what The Sun, The Mail, The Telegraph, The Star and Express are going to do. let's say on election day.”
Many Labor MPs disagreed. “I remember thinking at the time that it was just inappropriate,” says one. “I just thought Brand was crazy. His demeanor seemed to be accepted by everyone, a bit like Margaret Thatcher fawning over Jimmy Savile. I felt uncomfortable at that time.”
Aisha Hazarika, who worked on Miliband's election campaign and is now a TV presenter and political commentator, said yesterday that organizing the interview was a «terrible decision» and blamed the fact that: «There weren't many women in the room making these decisions » Although the idea for the interview did come from a woman, it was supported by an almost exclusively male team keen to give Miliband a more masculine image, as evidenced by his toe-curling line in an interview with Jeremy Paxman: «Am I tough enough ? ? Hell yeah, I'm pretty cool.»
Referring to the pink-painted minibus in which then deputy Labor leader Harriet Harman and female MPs were giving a «Woman to Woman» tour of marginalized places, Hazarika told the BBC: «We were in a pink bus that tells you everything you need to know. about how valuable women are in terms of decision making. But this is a big lesson in terms of targeting celebrities for political points.»
Gloria De Piero, Harriet Harman and Yvette Cooper arrive on a pink bus to a campaign event in 2015. Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS
Miliband considered the interview a success, saying at the time: “People criticize Russell Brand and I don't agree with his message. , but a lot of people think about what he's saying, which is that politics doesn't speak to them.»
Ironically, Brand was known for advising young people not to vote and boasted that he had never voted himself. After the interview, he temporarily suspended his position, saying Miliband had convinced him that people should vote and vote Labour.
“David Cameron might have thought I was a joke,” Brand said. «But I don't think there's anything funny about what the Conservative Party are doing to this country and we have to stop them.»
After all, Miliband had led the Labor Party to its worst result since 1987, and Brand joked that his interlocutor should have said in his resignation speech: «Thank you, Russell Brand, for ruining the election by forcing me to come to my senses.» .
Shadow climate change minister Miliband now says through his spokesman that the allegations of rape and sexual assault made against Brand are «horrific [and] must be fully investigated» and that Miliband «stands by his position» . with all victims of sexual violence and in solidarity with the women who have come forward.” A spokesman for Ms. Powell did not respond to requests for comment.
Sir Keir, meanwhile, finds himself in the awkward position of being fronted by Miliband himself (now shadow secretary of state for climate change and net zero) and the architect of his meeting with Brand. benches.
For his part, Brand said he was “in a bit of a crazy moment” when he supported the Labor Party and Ed Miliband. Few Labor MPs would disagree with this description of the infamous Milibrand interview.
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