The PR blunder of Ed Miliband, the aide, and the last Rolo

The last Rolo was an ingenious advertising campaign that symbolised complete and enduring devotion to whomever you chose to give the sweet to.

The last Rolo was an ingenious advertising campaign that symbolised complete and enduring devotion to whomever you chose to give the sweet to.

So when a member of Ed Miliband’s entourage heard a member of the voting public offer the Labour leader the last in his packet, he thought it was a public relations dream come true.

The comment was made during the MP’s visit to Camden Town on Thursday.

The aide made sure the local press had picked up on the remark, which would have suggested that builder Robert Quinn backed the MP enough to give him his last, treasured chocolate.

Sadly for the opposition leader, the aide misheard the builder, who in fact jokingly offered Mr Miliband his last “rollie”, referring to a joint of marijuana.

Mr Miliband had been approached spontaneously by 34-year old Mr Quinn halfway through his Camden visit, where he talked to independent business owners about his plans to cut business rates and freeze energy prices.

Mr Quinn told him about the struggles of job instability and said that he has resisted a life of crime growing marijuana, which would have been “the easy way out”. See facing page for more on Mr Miliband’s visit.