An online campaign expressing fandom for the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has attracted widespread attention, but its 17-year-old founder does not want her Tory-voting parents to know.
The Labour leader has become an unlikely subject of teenage adoration on Twitter under the hashtag #milifandom, which became a trending topic on the network on Tuesday.
But its founder, an A-level student in St Helens, who will only give her name as Abby, wants to protect her identity to stop her parents finding out about the campaign.
“The thing is my parents really hate Ed Miliband,” Abby told the Guardian. “I will probably have to break it to them eventually, but I want to hold off as long as possible,” she said. “I think they have voted Tory in the past, but I don’t know who they’ll vote this time.”
Fandoms are usually reserved for the likes of Justin Bieber and One Direction, but scores of young women and girls are sharing their affection for the Labour leader under #milifandom.
Speaking just before a history lesson, Abby said she had been “gobsmacked” by the interest in #milifandom. She now has 12,000 followers on Twitter.
Until last week, the subject of Abby’s online adoration had been a slightly more conventional fandom icon – the actor Tom Hiddleston. But her online activity became more political over the issue of voting rights for young people.
💜🌼ed miliband flower crown edits🌼💜 pic.twitter.com/leGcMXjURg
— caity (@russellhowhard) April 20, 2015
She insists the campaign is not a joke and is annoyed by some who have tried to make light of it. “It is not fair to describe it as tongue-in-cheek. It is just young people angry that they can’t vote. David Cameron won’t give us a voice, so we are having our say anyway. I just did what I thought was the right thing to do.”
Abby, who joined the Labour party two weeks ago, insists that #milifandom was her idea and not instigated, or coordinated, by the party.
“I did this completely by myself. No one associated with Labour contacted me beforehand. I’ve had a few Labour MPs tweet support for it, but no one influenced it,” she said.
Abby said she wanted to counter unflattering portrayals of the Labour leader in the press. “Ed Miliband is often presented quite badly in the media,” she said. “I think that’s really unfair, because no one actually looks at his policies. They just look at a picture of him eating a bacon sandwich and think, ‘I don’t want that guy’. I want to change that.”
The real question is, who isn't a part of the #milifandom? #BaeMiliband pic.twitter.com/Euu1XRxkvt
— shae. (@annamariiax) April 21, 2015
She added: “I’m enthusiastic about change and what’s best for the country. And I think that is Ed Miliband. So I’m trying to stop unfair media presentation. The policies are all brilliant and it comes across that he actually cares. The LGBT manifesto was released yesterday and I think that’s brilliant. And all the policies for young people like giving 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote. I do like the Green party but I think their policies are very idealistic and I’m not sure about their defence policy.”
On her Twitter account, which carries a picture of her hero, Abby has urged Miliband to respond to the campaign by granting her an interview.
I think @Ed_Miliband should come down to my college and let me interview him on behalf of the #Milifandom
— abby (@twcuddleston) April 21, 2015
She thinks he is unlikely to take up the offer. “At the moment he’s trying to win the election, he hasn’t got time for things like this. I think it would be brilliant if he did [respond], but I’m not expecting anything.”
Abby says Miliband has reached the same level as Tom Hiddleston in her esteem. “It’s a different kind of thing. He would run the country very well and he’s a really nice guy, but I don’t love him as much as Tom Hiddleston. I’d put them on level-pegging.”
Abby hopes the campaign will help Labour’s election chances, but she is wary of it becoming trivialised. “I hope it doesn’t get turned into something silly. I just hope it changes some people’s opinions.”
The Labour party responded to the flood of complimentary comments, saying: “We didn’t see this coming … if you’re fired up about Ed, changing Britain, and making your voice heard, we’d love you to be on the team.”
Not to be outdone, a Tory supporter attempted to hit back at #milifandom by trying to drum up online interest in fandom for David Cameron.
The #cameronettes campaign started by acknowledging the success of the Miliband fandom by mentioning it in a tweet.
WHO SAID DAVID CAMERON DOESNT HAVE A FANDOM #milifandom #Conservative #Tories #BringItOn
— David Cameron Fandom (@Cameronettes) April 21, 2015
The Telegraph said it appeared to have been sent by a 21-year-old Exeter University politics student and Tory supporter.
More than an hour after it was sent, it had only attracted one retweet.
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