2 October 2012 Last updated at 13:11 ET

Article written by Nick Robinson Political editor

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Delivering on the promise?

 

Imitation - they say - is the sincerest form of flattery. Today Ed Miliband delivered a speech that didn't just echo one of the slogans and some of the rhetoric of his Tory opponent but even the way David Cameron once famously delivered them - without notes.

His speech was based around a single assertion: that he could unite the country in difficult times and was the man to deliver the 140-year-old Tory slogan "One Nation".

The country needed to come together, to join together, to work together the Labour leader declared - almost word for word what the Conservative leader had pledged at his conference speech before the last election.

Ed Miliband's message was that he understood why many had deserted Labour to vote for David Cameron back then but only he could deliver that promise now.

Last year some at this Conference looked worried about whether their man had really got what it takes. This year they relished his performance, now certain that he had.

The test though is whether those who are not committed Labour supporters can now close their eyes, visualise the most famous door in the world and genuinely picture Ed Miliband standing in front of it as Prime Minister.