ED Miliband has so far failed to convince us that he was the right choice as Labour leader – and that is a view we have expressed on more than one occasion.

Even here in the traditional Labour heartlands of the North-East, there are continuing questions about whether the party chose the “wrong Miliband”, and we have spoken to MPs in the region who, privately, share that concern.

Despite having those reservations, we do not, however, believe that the Labour Party should dump Mr Miliband before next year’s General Election. Indeed, we agree with Lord Kinnock, who declared yesterday that it would be “political suicide” to do so.

Shadow cabinet minister Caroline Flint has admitted that some of her colleagues are having “jitters”, amid reports over the weekend that as many as 20 shadow ministers are ready to call on Mr Miliband to quit.

But it is too close to the election to jump onto another horse now – even if there was another runner with enough form to be considered an attractive wager.

The fact that Alan Johnson is the man most often touted as a potential replacement shows that Labour does not really have a credible alternative for this particular race.

We have been impressed by Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna, and his time may well come, but it is not now. He is still too much of a rookie to be Prime Minister in May.

And, unless the party wants to appear divided and desperate, that really does leave us with Ed.

He has not caught the public imagination in the way the supporters had hoped. At a time when Labour should be well ahead in the polls, he is attracting headlines for making his own team jittery.

But he really is the party’s best bet for the