Ed's start

If they do choose him as their Prime Minister next May, it will not be because he was the candidate who stuck in the mind because he did something daring like set fire to his interviewer's newspaper. It will not be because he was the candidate who stuck in the mind with a memorable phrase that struck a chord, like "education, education, education".

It will not be because he was the candidate who impressed the interviewing board with his effervescent personality – this speech revealed very little about Mr Miliband himself, although it was populated with half-formed personalities like Gareth, Elizabeth and Colin whom he appears to have met in the park.

It will not be because he was the candidate with the greatest fire in his belly. He wasn't ablaze with passion, as Gordon Brown was during the Scottish referendum campaign, and the only time there was a genuine flash of anger was when he told of how he stood up to the Daily Mail over its outrageous slur on his father as "the man who hated Britain".

And it will not be because he was the candidate with the quickest and sharpest wit – his best line, perhaps his only line, was that David Cameron doesn't lie awake at night worrying about the UK, but he does lie awake worrying about the UK Independence Party.

Perhaps there was a deliberate attempt to de-Miliband yesterday's speech. The Labour Party is about five points ahead in the polls, which is enough to give it a slim overall majority, whereas Mr Miliband's personal approval rating is in the same negative territory as William Hague's was before his Conservative Party was thrashed at the 2001 election.

The party is almost carrying Mr Miliband and so yesterday he set out to remind people of the party's strength. The thread running through the speech was an attempt to build on the successful Better Together campaign in Scotland and portray Labour as the party of togetherness.

"Together we can restore faith in the future," he said. "Together we can rebuild Britain."

The central part of the speech was six solid targets that the party would achieve in ten years of government. These went back to the very basics of the Labour Party, like raising two million people out of low pay and boosting apprenticeships, and they culminated in the headline-grabbing investment in Labour's core product, the NHS.

The pledge to create 36,000 new NHS jobs awoke delegates from their slumbers and had them on their feet. Mr Miliband even gave the pledge financial credibility by saying it would be funded by new taxes on mansions and tobacco companies, plus by closing hedge funds tax avoidance loopholes – so that's taxes on the rich, the bad and the hated bankers, which must have pushed Labour activists' buttons.

However, how many more policies can really be funded by closing tax loopholes is anybody's guess, and Conservative Chancellor George Osborne was quick to point out that Mr Miliband did not once address the need to reduce Britain's overspending deficit, which will dominate the next government, whoever the electorate selects for the top job.

But, for all the excitement of the NHS announcement, this was a drab speech. There is a suggestion that the party is collectively exhausted after its exertions in the Scottish referendum, and another suggestion is that Mr Miliband simply forgot the passage on the deficit during his no-notes peroration.

But he also did not give much detail or vision about constitutional reform, which has been forced to the top of the agenda by events in Scotland. He spoke of setting up a convention, of turning the House of Lords into "a senate of nations and regions", and of devolving power to local authorities, but he didn't explain how he is going to counter the crucial "English votes for English issues" line that is proving popular for the Tories.

So this wasn't the best way to start a job interview. By contrast, last year's speech was much stronger and more confident.

Yet what does the average voter remember from last year's speech? Just the headline about Labour being prepared to freeze energy prices for 18 months if it is elected – a popular idea.

And in eight months' time when they finally select their preferred candidate to lead the country, what will the interview board remember of yesterday's speech? Certainly they will remember the headline about Labour pledging to create 36,000 new NHS jobs to cut the waiting lists at GPs surgeries and in A&E departments – a popular idea.

They might possibly also remember that the Labour Party leader – that Miliband fellow, either Ed or David – was a little boring and geeky, but they knew that already from reading his curriculum vitae and his references, and seeing him in action over the last four years. Will that be enough to prevent them from giving him the top job?