His own son may have told him he “used to be famous” but Ed Miliband was recognised by some eagle-eyed youngsters on a visit to the Houses of Parliament.

The former Labour leader, who suffered a crushing defeat in the general election last month, must have been delighted when he was asked for a photograph with children from St Peter’s Primary School in Dorset Avenue, Romford.

They were on a school trip to Westminster to meet Romford MP Andrew Rosindell for a democracy workshop on Tuesday last week when they spotted Mr Miliband in the courtyard.

And he was more than happy to join them for a swift chat about some of the topics they had covered in their classroom debates - particularly lowering the age of voting.

Nigel Hooton, a Year 6 teacher at the school, said the politician’s aides tried to hurry him but he took his time in chatting to the children and even requested a photo.

“He was very good,” said Nigel. “We were in the courtyard when we realised a group of our girls had cornered someone, who turned out to be Ed Miliband.

“It’s good that the children recognised him – he’s not the most famous face in the government anymore is he?”

Shortly after Labour’s election defeat, Ed Miliband revealed his son had told him if there was a fire in their house, they would be safe because he used to be famous and the fire brigade would recognise his name.

In the run up to the general election the children held their own classroom vote, with the Green Party receiving a lot of support for their pledge to abolish Sats.

And they spent the rest of the day at Parliament coming up with and voting on new laws they would like to see passed.

“A popular one was changing the school week to four days, but working an extra hour and a half each day,” said Nigel.

“That way they do the same hours but get an extra day off from the weekend!”

Mr Rosindell dropped in to host a question and answer session with the children during their workshop and discussed the world of politics.