After becoming an unlikely sex symbol, Ed Miliband now hopes millions of women will fall in love with him enough to vote Labour.

He has already been mobbed by a hen party on the campaign trail, while the “Milifandom” movement – set up on Twitter by a 17-year-old girl named Abby – has attracted thousands of female followers.

Labour leader Ed MIliband was mobbed by a Chester hen party keen for a selfie with him (Picture credit: Sunday Mirror)

But it seems no one is more surprised by the Labour chief’s ­popularity with the opposite sex than his adoring wife.

“When I told Justine a couple of nights ago I think she thought I had taken leave of my senses,” says Mr Miliband, blushing slightly during an interview on the Labour battle bus.

“I think Abby who set up the ­Milifandom thing, she was making a point about young people in politics.

“Same goes for women in politics and the way they have been let down by David Cameron.

“If you think about the cuts that he has made they have hit women much harder than men.

“Women have taken the brunt of hard times under this Government and we are going to turn that around.”

The good news for Ed is women seem to agree because an exclusive ComRes/Sunday Mirror poll of female voters gives him a five-point lead.

It puts Labour on 38 per cent, with the Tories on 33 per cent and Nigel Farage’s UKIP third on 11 per cent.

Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems are fourth on eight per cent and the Green Party is limping along in fifth – despite its female leader in Natalie Bennett.

Women could hold the key to victory on May 7 as they make up a large proportion of undecided voters.

It means the Tories could rue policies which left women disproportionately hit by low wages, zero hours contracts and soaring childcare costs.

Our poll found women thought Mr Miliband would act in their best interests with the Labour chief scoring 23 per cent to Mr Cameron’s 15 per cent.

In the key policy area of who was most likely to protect tax credits for working families, the Labour leader had a 17-point lead.

Mr Miliband also had an 11-point lead on family-friendly policies.

And 30 per cent trusted Mr ­Miliband to run the NHS, compared with 21 per cent for the Tory.

Comres managing director ­Katharine Peacock said: “The ­Conservatives’ traditional dominance among female voters has been declining ever since the 1970s.

“This poll reveals however that David Cameron has not been able to overturn the tide and his party trail Labour among women.

“Although there are a number of different divisions within the electorate, not least between voters of different ages and in different part of the country, in some ways this ­election is very much gearing up to be a battle of the sexes.

“If more women turn out to vote on polling day, it’s likely to be a better night for Labour. If more men turn out, it’s likely to be a better night for the Conservatives and UKIP.”

Just 25 per cent of candidates in the Tories’ target seats are women. Our poll found 66 per cent thought there should be more women in politics.

Figures show how badly females have fared under David Cameron’s watch. They still earn just 81p for every pound a man earns, while 85 per cent of the money raised from tax and benefit changes since May 2010 has come from women’s pockets.

Childcare places have fallen by over 40,000 since 2010 and the number of Sure Start centres has fallen by 750.

• Comres interviewed 1,033 British women on April 22 and 23.