Ed Miliband Thanks #milifandom Creators For Making Him Unlikely Twitter Star

Ed Miliband has thanked a teenage girl online after she started a #milifandom Twitter trend which turned him into an unlikely social media star.

We're not sure if it was an elaborate PR stunt or completely genuine, but Miliband gained a loyal following among teenage girls overnight when the #milifandom hashtag started trending.

The surprise following started with a girl called Abby, who began tweeting her support for the Labour Party leader, who is constantly critiqued for his appearance and occasionally awkward demeanour.

The 17-year-old, known on Twitter as @twcuddleston, is currently studying for her AS levels.

She gained 13,000 extra Twitter followers after declaring her love for Ed - which quickly caught on with teenagers across the UK.

The hashtag began trending initially in London and then across the UK, with over 11,000 tweets on the topic by midnight.

‘Fandom’ is the term used for teenagers who become desperately obsessed with a celebrity, TV show or personality. It's usually reserved for the likes of One Direction and Benedict Cumberbatch.

The new Miliband super fans have even created some elaborate Photoshopped images of their hero to share with the world.

Almost everyone is surprised by the news, including the Labour Party, who shared a status on Facebook saying, 'we didn't see this coming'.

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Abby gained her following as a fangirl of Tom Hiddleston, the actor who plays Loki in the Thor film and told Buzzfeed she wants to change the way the media portrays the leader.

She said: ‘We just want to change opinions so people don’t just see the media’s usual distorted portrayal of him - and actually see him for who he is.

'Ed is just a great guy and how many other politicians have a fandom? 0. We’re just waiting for him to acknowledge it bc it’s kinda sad when he only ever sees people write mean things about him.’

Ed Miliband’s public image has taken quite a battering over the past few months, starting with an image of the leader eating a bacon sandwich.

The politician responded to the fandom by contacting Abby directly this morning. He said:

The #Milifandom sensation comes at the same time as ‘Cool Ed Miliband’ - a twitter account dedicated to photoshopping the politician’s face onto famous celebrity’s faces.