Drowning Not Waving

So it seems that voters are beginning to make up their minds about Ed Miliband - who has been the Labour party's leader since September 2010.

In a poll released today by the Guardian newspaper - Labour is going backwards despite the recent attempts to repackage and relaunch the party and its leader - as a man of 'true grit'.

The Guardian reports the state of the parties as:

Conservative - 40% (+3%)
Labour - 35% (-1)
Lib Dem - 16% (+1)

But there was even worse news for Labour at the weekend - in the following polling date released by the Sunday Times:

Conservative - 42%
Labour -36%
Lib Dem - 9%

The Sunday Times poll also asked the following questions - about the Labour leader's performance.

Is Ed Miiband doing well or badly?

Badly - 66%
Well - 20%
Don't know - 14%

Is Ed Miliband the best leader for Labour?

Yes - 14%
No - 65%
Don't know - 21%

Now I don't know Ed Miliband - and I certainly don't bear him any personal malice.

I didn't have a vote in the Labour leadership election - but if I did I would have voted for his brother - David Miliband - as did the majority of ordinary Labour party members and MPs.

So the initial problem for Ed to overcome is that he appears not to be his own man - but the choice of a handful of union bosses and union activists - who ganged up to deliver the crown to someone they believed to be in their own image.

In the process party members were denied their first choice or preference - and ever since Ed Miliband's leadership has suffered from a hollow ring.

Like a cracked bell - Ed's leadership just fails to strike the right note somehow.

And that's very dangerous for Labour.

Because these poll ratings are not just bad they are absolutely disastrous - and seem to confirm that in the mind of the voters - Ed Miliband is regarded as some kind of well-intentioned 'goofball'.

If he doesn't overcome that soon - he's toast - because in a few months time the voters will have made up their minds for good.