Labour's strategy to cast Ed Miliband as an ordinary family man escalated tonight as his wife Justine gave her first major TV interview ahead of the general election. In a surprise move, she has spoken of her husband's regret at not seeing enough of their sons and the pressure of political attacks on their family life. The child actress-turned-barrister is expected to make a series of high profile appearances in the run-up to polling day, but it is likely to draw comparisons with failed attempts by Gordon Brown and Iain Duncan Smith to use their other halves to bolster their poll ratings. Justine Miliband has spoken of her husband's regret at not seeing enough of their sons Daniel (right) and Sam (left) and the pressure of political attacks on their family life . At the weekend Mr Miliband spoke of the strains his political role puts on family life, claiming missing his wife and sons Daniel and Same is the 'hardest thing' about his job. Now Mrs Miliband has entered the fray in what will be seen as an attempt to humanise a politician often mocked for appearing wonkish. In a rare interview with  BBC News, she repeated the line that her husband's regret about the job of leading Labour is 'not seeing the children enough or worrying he doesn't see the children as much as he'd like'. Asked about dealing with the attacks on her husband she added: 'I think it's going to get worse, I think over the next couple of months it's going to get really vicious, really personal, but I'm totally up for this fight.' She stressed that she was going public now 'because I think this goes way beyond Ed as an individual, I think it's about whether decencies and principle count for something in political life'. Mrs Miliband admitted she had not yet started thinking about how her life will change if her husband becomes Prime Minister in two months' time. 'I haven't thought about the future particularly,' she said. 'Probably like most women, being a working mother and having a husband who's Ed, I'm definitely on a 48-hour timetable, so I haven't really thought about it.' Mrs Miliband, a child actress-turned-barrister, is expected to make a series of high profile appearances in the run-up to polling day . Mrs Miliband said her husband showed he had 'guts' when he decided to take on Rupert Murdoch and News International over phone-hacking in 2011, though she admitted she was 'nervy' about it at the time. Asked if she ever advised Mr Miliband on policy, she said: 'We are married, so we talk about things that happen to crop up. 'One of the clearest examples that has stayed with me is when we were going to work one morning in the car and the radio came on with the news and the news had just broken about phone hacking and about how low some journalists had gone in pursuit of the news. Mrs Miliband said she was speaking out to show that she was 'more than a dress', a reference to her appearances on stage at party conferences . 'We just were totally shocked - that immediate human reaction - and sickened actually. We talked about it and quite quickly, for someone like Ed, it becomes a question not just of that immediate reaction but . 'What am I going to do about this?' 'We talked briefly. It was back in 2011 and you didn't take on News International in 2011, so it felt pretty serious. I remember being on the Tube on the way home and I had a copy of the Evening Standard and my eyes caught the headline, which was something like 'Miliband calls on Murdoch to resign'. 'I remember thinking 'He has gone ahead and done that' and that felt pretty nervy and I remember not being quite sure how it would all play out, but I thought 'You have shown you have got the guts to do things that people wouldn't expect'.' A new opinion poll today suggested more voters think that their families and Britain as a whole will be better-off with David Cameron as prime minister than with Mr Miliband in charge. The YouGov poll for the Westminster Policy Institute found that 26 per cent of people believed Britain as a while would be better off with Mr Miliband as prime minister, compared to 39 per cent for Mr Cameron. When the same question was asked about their families' position, some 35 per cent thought they would be better off with Mr Cameron in charge, compared to 26 per cent for Mr Miliband. In the new focus on life at their family home in north London, Mrs Miliband lifted the lid on how their sons cope with seeing their father in the spotlight. 'There's quite a lot of chats about what the red team's doing and who the red team's helping,' she said. Mr Miliband repeatedly said he would not copy David Cameron's habit of eye-catching photo opportunities while opposition leader, and would instead focus on policies. But Labour strategists plan to use his wife more in the run up to the election, in addition to appearances at party conferences. She added: 'The only reason I first gave a speech to Labour Party members at Labour Party conference was because I was so worried that by about three years in all they knew about me was a dress I wore to Ed's speech and I thought I really want to reassure people that I am in fact more than a dress.' As a teenager, she carved out a career as an actor, starring in the ITV series Dramarama, which ran from 1983 and helped launch the careers of talent including writer Kay Mellor and actor David Tennant. She also appeared in 1987 school-based sitcom Hardwicke House, which was axed after just two episodes after being mauled by critics.
Barrister expected to make a series of appearances in run-up to polling day . Speaks of her husband's regret at not seeing enough of their sons . She said the attacks on the Labour leader were going to get worse .