Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email
Ed Miliband has said he "profoundly" disagreed with Russell Brand over the comedian and activist's view that voting does not make a difference.
The Labour leader was spotted leaving the Shoreditch home of the comedian turned activist on Monday night, fuelling speculation he had persuaded Brand to endorse him at the 11th hour.
But the excitement was short-lived after a Labour party spokesman said Miliband had visited Brand's Shoreditch home to record an interview for his satirical YouTube channel The Trews .
And speaking on the campaign trail today, Miliband said there were big differences in opinion between him and Brand, who has never voted, famously urges his followers not to bother on polling day.
He also batted away mocking comments from David Cameron, who said he did not have time to "hang out" with the "joke" figure of Brand.
However, defending his decision to accept the interview invitation, Mr Miliband said that if he talked only to people he agreed with, he "wouldn't be doing many interviews".
He said: "I'm going to go anywhere and talk to anyone to take that message out to people about how we can change this country so it works for working people again.
"I say to all of the politicians in this campaign, here is the danger, the danger is that politics is being played in an increasingly empty stadium.
"If we don't recognise that, if we don't engage in different ways with the people who aren't engaging in this election, then we will have fewer and fewer people voting.
"So I'm proud to be engaging with people in this election. Russell Brand asked me for an interview and I was very, very happy to accept."
Show all 19 1 /19General Election 2015: The alternative power list General Election 2015: The alternative power list Rick Edwards He may have started his career as a T4 pinup - best known for saying “awkward” and “now, for more Friends” - but Rick Edwards has re-launched his career as a politico. Edwards' book None Of The Above was published this year, and he was praised for making the prospect of voting and getting involved in politics exciting for young people.
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Ant and Dec The Geordie cheeky-chappy TV presenters recently took a turn as political pundits when they discussed their disillusionment with the Labour Party in February.
Getty Images
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Cheryl Fernandez-Versini The singer gave a candid interview about her political beliefs, saying that as she paid a "f**king lot of tax" she was obliged to pay careful attention to what each party is saying.
Sport Relief/Gary Moyes
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Jack Monroe A food blogger who spent years on the poverty line struggling to raise her son as a single mother, Jack Monroe has come out as a supporter of the Green Party.
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Armando Iannucci The Thick Of It creator has been a loud voice for reminding people to vote, and believes that if you don't go to the polling station on 7 May, you're more likely to be penalised by whoever comes to power.
Getty Images
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Simon Cowell X Factor founder Cowell said that David Cameron had the “substance and the stomach to navigate us through difficult times”.
Getty
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Harry Leslie Smith The 91-year-old war veteran is a Labour Party supporter and a ferocious supporter of the NHS.
PA
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Eddie Izzard A staunch Labour supporter, comedian Eddie Izzard has been on the campaign trail with the party's candidates from Southwark to Crewe.
Reuters
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Al Murray the Pub Landlord South Thanet’s finest, comedian Murray is running against Nigel Farage in his constituency. Leading new party Free United Kingdom Party, Murray’s policies include bricking up the Channel Tunnel and giving the public a British moon on a British stick.
almurray
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Russell Brand Despite famously saying there was no point in voting, Brand has now urged his followers to vote for Green MP Caroline Lucas in Brighton, and told the rest of England "You gotta vote Labour".
BBC
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Joey Essex The Only Way Is Essex star – famed for wearing a watch around his ankle and shoes a size too small so they don’t turn up at the toes – has now dipped his toe into politics. Essex (real name) interviewed Nigel Farage and Nick Clegg for ITV. He didn’t learn a lot, but reckons voting is “reem”.
Getty Images
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Robin Grey – aka David Cameron’s favourite busker In April, as David Cameron strolled through Alnwick, Northumberland, a ukulele-playing man who told the Prime Minister to "f*** off back to Eton".
Kiran Moodley
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Steph & Dom from Gogglebox The super-posh couple from Sandwich staged an interview with Ukip leader Nigel Farage. Very little actually came out of the debate – apart from Farage spilling a drink down his slacks – but the couple got on with him like a house on fire.
Channel 4
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Royal baby The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s daughter Princess Charlotte could sway the election in favour of the Conservatives as people will be happy with the status quo. If it was a boy called Edward, Tories had worried it could sway the public in favour of Labour leader Ed Miliband.
Getty Images
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Myleene Klass The Hear’Say singer turned businesswoman gave Ed Miliband the grilling of a lifetime, saying that his proposals for mansion tax were unfair, and that: “You can’t just point at things and tax them.”
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Madonna Posting a picture of Margaret Thatcher, the singer showed her support for the often-controversial Conservative Prime Minister. Apparently free milk in schools and miners rights are less important than a de-regulated financial market to the Like A Virgin singer.
Getty Images
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Martin Freeman Bilbo Baggins has poked his head out of his Hobbit home to endorse the Labour party. Freeman has filmed passionate messages for the public to encourage people to vote for Miliband’s party.
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Gary Barlow The Take That singer endorsed the Conservatives in the 2010 election, joking: “I've only known David Cameron for about year. In fact, I was slightly worried at first, because he thought Ronan Keating was part of Take That.”
Getty Images
General Election 2015: The alternative power list Caitlin Moran Perhaps the essential Twitter follow, and a booming voice for the left in Britain. Times columnist Moran constantly writes thought-provoking articles about women and being working class.
The Independent has got together with May2015.com to produce a poll of polls that produces the most up-to-date data in as close to real time as is possible.
Click the buttons below to explore how the main parties' fortunes have changed:
All data, polls and graphics are courtesy of May2015.com . Click through for daily analysis, in-depth features and all the data you need. (All historical data used is provided by UK Polling Report )
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies