Ed Balls

Profile

Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British Labour politician, who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2005, currently for Morley and Outwood.

Educated at Oxford University and Harvard, Balls worked as a leader writer for the Financial Times. Although he was not elected to Parliament until 2005, he was an adviser to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 1994, and as such he was regarded as one of Brown’s key lieutenants. From June 2007 to May 2010, Balls served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

Balls is currently the Shadow Education Secretary, and a candidate in the Labour Party’s 2010 leadership election.

The Early life of Ed Balls

His father is Michael Balls, a zoologist Emeritus Professor at Nottingham University. Balls was born in Norwich, Norfolk and educated at Bawburgh Primary School in Norwich, Crossdale Drive Primary School in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, and then the private all-boys Nottingham High School. Ed Balls studied PPE at Keble College, Oxford, where he obtained a First-Class Honours degree, and later attended Harvard University as a Kennedy Scholar.

Balls joined the Labour Party when he was 16 years old. Whilst at Oxford he was an active member of the Labour Club, but also signed up to the Conservative Association in order attend their lectures.

Ed Balls The Economist

His career began as a writer at the Financial Times (1990–94) before his appointment as an economic adviser to shadow chancellor Gordon Brown (1994–97).

When Labour won the General Election of 1997, Brown became Chancellor and Balls continued to work as an economic adviser to him. He went on to serve as chief economic adviser to HM Treasury from 1999 to 2004, in which post he was once named the ‘most powerful unelected person in Britain’.

While he was chief economic adviser to the Treasury Balls attended the Bilderberg annual conference of politicians, financiers and businessmen in 2001 and 2003, and returned to the United Kingdom on Conrad Black’s private jet on both occasions. In 2010 when after details were reported in the press, Balls commented, “It saved the taxpayer the cost of a plane fare and on both occasions I declared it at the time to the permanent secretary in the normal way.”

In July 2004, Balls was selected to stand as Labour and Co-operative candidate for the parliamentary seat of Normanton in West Yorkshire, a Labour stronghold whose MP, Bill O’Brien, was retiring. He stepped down as chief economic adviser to the Treasury, but was given a position at the Smith Institute, a political think tank. He reportedly was paid £100,000 for less than a year’s work. HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office confirmed that “the normal and proper procedures were followed.”

Source: Wikipedia

Labour Leadership Contest

Ed Balls is one of five candidates to succeed Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party:

1. David Miliband
2. Ed Miliband
3. Diane Abbott
4. Ed Balls
5. Andy Burnham

Further Information:

• Guardian Summary
• BBC Summary