Ed Miliband: from hapless inventor to action hero?

Ella Phillips, 29, says she thought she had suffered concussion after she fell face first to the ground near Kentish Town, north London, riding into central London.

But as she resurfaced she claims to have seen the Labour leader’s looking “very concerned” in front of her. “He mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, a bit like an action hero,” she said.

He mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, a bit like an action hero. Ella Phillips

“There was Ed Miliband’s face looking very concerned at me. I started to wonder how badly I’d banged my head. My first thought was that I was seeing things because I was still in quite a daze.”

The incident took place near Kentish Town tube station on a notoriously busy thoroughfare into central London. Ms Phillips says that Mr Miliband whisked her to safety, and that she recovered on the pavement.

Unlikely image change

Mr Miliband, who has previously suffered harsh comparisons to Aardman’s inveterate inventor, Wallace, seems to have forged a new image: in the eyes of one at least.

“What added to all the confusion was that he was actually attractive and not geeky at all. Even the way he appeared was suave. He was dressed casually but he had style,” Ms Phillips told the Camden New Journal.

The account will come as an unlikely image-boost for the Labour leader, whose recent campaigning in Worcester on a wooden pallet drew criticism from certain quarters.

He was actually attractive and not geeky at all. He appeared suave. He was dressed casually but had style. Ella Phillips

Ms Phillips, an artist, had been riding her work at Holborn’s October Gallery, where she is an education coordinator.

A Labour party spokesman played down the incident insisting only “it was true he helped someone last week”.

Has Ed-the-action-hero changed your impression of the Labour leader? Tell us at #c4news