Ed Miliband: Five Things He Won't Say In His Conference Speech

Ed Miliband: Five Things He Won't Say In His Conference Speech
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Labour leader Ed Miliband arrives to appear on the Andrew Marr show in Brighton.
PA

Every year during conference season we like to play speech bingo - predicting the words and phrases the party leader will say during their keynote address But here are five things Ed Miliband is likely NOT to say in his speech on Tuesday afternoon.

Damian McBride: The fallout from the confessional book written by Gordon Brown's former spin doctor has been the talk of the conference (if not the country). But while Miliband may allude to the troubles of the Blair-Brown years, it seems highly unlikely he will want to provide the media with a clip of him mentioning McBride by name.

Falkirk: One of the other flashpoints of this year's conference is Brighton is Miliband's confrontation with the unions. His attempts to change the relationship between the party and the unions has led to heated rows, not least between himself and the general secretary of Unite, Len McCluskey. The trigger for the changes was the farcical row over the selection of the Falkirk parliamentary candidate. Again, like McBride, Miliband may address the union issue - but the word "Falkirk" seems unlikely to pass his lips.

Being Egged: Miliband does not enjoy particularly impressive personal poll ratings. Not that Nick Clegg or David Cameron do either. But the Labour leader's are particularly awkward. His summer of bad press culminated in being egged. "I'm always looking for new ways to connect with the voters," he joked at the time. But it is probably something he would rather forget. And not see on TV again.

David Miliband: Ever since his leadership victory at the 2010 party conference, Miliband has been stalked (metaphorically if not physically) by his brother David. But with his family rival now packed off the United States (and blogging for HuffPost on Syria incidentally), Ed will hope that the soap opera is finally over.

Wallace: Miliband is not above a bit of self deprecating humour. And has poked fun at himself for looking like Wallace from 'Wallace and Gromit' in the past. But with the general election fast approaching, he will probably want to start evoking a more prime ministerial image than that.