Can Ed Miliband recover from the party’s latest setback?

Mr Miliband will insist he wants to act as a “wealth creator” and is not planning a “big spending” spree if he becomes prime minister.

He will attempt to relaunch his pitch to voters by declaring his “resilience” in a speech today, calling for radical measures to tackle “zero-zero” Britain in which the poor are forced to work on zero-hours contracts while the rich benefit from zero tax.

The embattled Labour leader is expected to say in a speech at London University: “There is a saying which goes: what does not kill you makes you stronger.”

A Labour govt will:
Raise the min. wage
Ban exploitative zero hours contracts
Guarantee jobs for young people
Build more homes
Save the NHS

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) November 12, 2014

The speech comes as a new poll showed the Conservatives pulling ahead for the first time since autumn 2010. The survey by Ipsos Mori for the Evening Standard showed that Mr Miliband is the most unpopular party leader running to be prime minister in 40 years.

With just six months to go until the general election, Mr Miliband’s personal ratings had also tumbled to minus 44% – said to be the worst score for a party leader since data started to be collect in the 1970s.

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He is now more unpopular than Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, on minus 36%, while David Cameron rated at minus 15% and Nigel Farage minus 6%.

Even among Labour supporters, dissatisfaction with the leader’s performance was running at 58%.

‘Unforgivable’

In a BBC interview, Mr Miliband acknowledged that he did face opposition when he warned that disunited parties were always punished by the electorate and said it would “unforgivable” for Labour to turn in on itself.

Disunited parties are parties that the public worry about and I understand that. Ed Miliband

“It is fair to say that we haven’t had the best couple of weeks,” Mr Miliband said. “Disunited parties are parties that the public worry about and I understand that, that’s why we are going to go forward as a united party.”

The Labour leader added: “We are not going to look inwards as a party because, frankly, it would be unforgivable. It would be unforgivable to the people that we came into politics to represent, that we stand for and that I am determined to fight for.”

‘Squeezed middle’

Mr Miliband will open a new phase in his campaign to champion the “squeezed middle”, who have been suffering from falling living standards as wages were outstripped by prices, when he pledges to challenge Britain’s “zero-zero economy”.

He will say: “People [are] asking why they are on zero-hours contracts while those at the top get away with zero tax. This zero-zero economy is a symptom of a deeply unequal, deeply unfair, deeply unjust country; a country I am determined to change.”

Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said: “Ed Miliband’s tenth relaunch does not cover up his failure to learn the lessons from Labour’s mistakes.

All he offers is more of the same failed ideas that got us into a mess in the first place. Grant Shapps

“He has opposed everything we’ve done to turn our country around, he’s failed to put forward an economic plan to secure Britain’s future, and all he offers is more of the same failed ideas that got us into a mess in the first place – more spending, more borrowing and more taxes. That is why he is simply not up to the job.

“Voters will view this latest effort with the same lack of enthusiasm that Ed Miliband’s own colleagues view his leadership.”