LEADER of the Labour party Ed Miliband led a rendition of happy birthday as he visited a rain soaked Stroud on Saturday.
Mr Miliband was welcomed by former Stroud Labour MP David Drew, who was celebrating his 61st birthday, labour councillors and about 200 members of the public.
After walking through the town in the pouring rain he stopped in the high street to deliver his key messages – but not before leading a sing-along in honour of Mr Drew, who is now a district councillor after being ousted from Parliament by Conservative Neil Carmichael at the last election.
"It is the first time I've done that," Mr Miliband said of the sing-along. He added: "I have a clear message I want to give. There are lots of people saying this government has failed and they are right.
"Can we, the Labour party, turn the problems around? My answer is yes."
It had been a rough few days for Mr Miliband ahead of the visit, with ex-Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair questioning the party's direction under his leadership.
Mr Blair said Labour is in danger of reverting back to a left-wing protest party with no real answers to the country's problems. But Mr Miliband seemed relaxed as he joked with those who had congregated in Stroud and fielded questions on the NHS, education and bedroom tax among other issues.
"We need to get Britain's young people working again, that is the first thing I would do," he said. "I don't just offer a different style of management to David Cameron, I offer a different vision of this country. I think the way Britain succeeds is being a united country, not a divided country."
Mr Drew said the visit was a positive one, ahead of Labour's 51 candidates standing in the county council elections on May 2.
"There were a few heckles which is to be expected, but I think he answered questions honestly and gave a good account of himself," he said.
He added: "The happy birthday was a bit excruciating to be honest!"
