Ed Miliband’s Ed Stone has been spotted at a west London restaurant

We may be in the midst of a general election, but cast your mind back to last time we voted for a Prime Minister. That’s right, 2015. It was a simpler time; before Brexit and when Donald Trump was just that guy off the American version of ‘The Apprentice’. It was also the year that then Labour leader Ed Miliband unveiled his infamous stone monolith carved with the party’s pledges for the future.

Alas, the vision engraved on the Ed Stone wasn’t to be, and since Labour’s defeat two years ago the monument has been lost and consigned to the bargain bin of political history. But, like Tolkien’s Ring, myths have abounded on the whereabouts of the Ed Stone. Some speculated it had been destroyed, others claimed it was being held in a warehouse in Woolwich. And now, a new theory about the stone’s whereabouts has been thrown up by none other than TV presenter Ben Fogle.

In a bizarre twist to the Ed Stone mystery, Ben Fogle tweeted a picture of a what appears to be the stone tablet complete with the words ‘A Better Plan. A Better Future’ hidden in the undergrowth of the outdoor dining area at The Ivy Chelsea Garden on King’s Road. Could it be? The Ed Stone after all this time! The Ivy Garden’s owners, Caprice Holdings, claim they bought the infamous tablet in a charity auction after the 2015 election. However, one of the stonemasons who crafted the 400kg stone block said he’s ‘99 percent sure it’s smashed’, adding: ‘I know it was smashed because I know the man who smashed it.’

So, the plot thickens. Has the Ed Stone been discarded to the rubbish heap? Or perhaps it’s more strong and stable than we all thought?