David Miliband wins over Gillian Duffy
By politics.co.uk staff
David Miliband is a “really nice man”, the grandmother who ruined Gordon Brown’s general election campaign has said.
Gillian Duffy, whose outrage after being called a ‘bigot’ by the former prime minister ended Labour’s hopes of winning the 2010 election, demonstrated her enduring political clout by endorsing Mr Miliband for the Labour leadership.
The shadow foreign secretary met Ms Duffy at her home alongside Rochdale’s Labour MP Simon Danczuk.
She told the Mirror newspaper: “He’s a really nice man and obviously very intelligent but also down to earth. I think he would be a great prime minister.
“I felt David really listened to my points of view and shared my concerns on the issues that matter to working people.”
Ms Duffy had bumped into Mr Brown during the election campaign and questioned him about a number of policy issues. The encounter appeared to go well but, back in his car with his microphone still switched on, he was heard to call her a “bigoted woman”.
Mr Miliband said afterwards: “We need to win the confidence of many more voters like Mrs Duffy if we are to be serious about winning the next election.
“This new government is not on the side of people like Gilian Duffy. I am determined the Labour party will be.”
