RARELY has a new leader soared so high and so quickly in the opinion polls – yet been so widely written off as doomed to defeat at the next General Election.

In my second assessment of what 2011 holds for the men in the top party jobs, it’s time to turn the spotlight on easily the least known of the trio – Labour’s Ed Miliband.

At first sight – up to eight points ahead of the Tories and with a by-election victory bagged – all seems rosy for the most famous younger brother in politics.

But Mr Miliband has suffered a near-constant barrage of criticism that he lacks what it takes to win back Middle England and has struggled to articulate a coherent message.

Many of the attacks come from within his party, from supporters of big brother David, who fume that their man was robbed of the leadership by the union big barons who backed “Red Ed”.

Those mutterings are unlikely to have hit home with the public at large, but Miliband junior is tarred with a reputation for brotherknifing ruthlessness – perhaps the one thing about him that is widely known.

On a recent radio phone-in, one caller asked, memorably: “What chance do I stand if you’re quite happy to tread all over your brother to get to the top?”

In truth, Mr Miliband has – with a couple of exceptions – performed well as leader and has approval ratings comparable to those of David Cameron after only a few months in the post.

In recent weeks, he has sharpened up his message and inflicted a few wounds on the Prime Minister, over the VAT rise and those outrageous bankers’ bonuses.

Mr Miliband now focuses his attacks on what he calls the “Tory-led government” – relegating, rather than torching, Nick Clegg, as he woos the many disillusioned Liberal Democrat supporters.

Most importantly, he appears to recognise that – despite the poll ratings – the battle to win back power will be long, tough and has barely begun.

Recently, Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnson admitted that May’s crushing election defeat had blown away Labour’s reputation for economic competence, saying of internal polling: “On economic credibility, we are in a really worrying position.”

The voters will not quickly forget that Labour promised an “end to boom and bust”– then plunged them into the deepest recession since 1945, having failed to regulate the bankers.

Mr Miliband’s central task is to rebuild his party’s shattered reputation for economic competence. If he fails, that poll lead will melt like winter snow.

And, in his own – unwise – words, that project is still “a blank piece of paper”.

MUCH excitement in the Commons yesterday, when it was revealed that MPs were being watched by Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep.

It turned out that Downing Street had arranged her seat, to help the star of Sophie’s Choice and Kramer vs Kramer prepare for a forthcoming documentary role as Margaret Thatcher.

Of course, there is an Oscar-winning actress in the Commons just about every week.

She sits on the Labour benches and her name is Glenda Jackson. It is sometimes said that she is the only MP that everybody has seen naked – in her Academy Awardgrabbing appearance in Women In Love.