Ed Balls

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Political career

Balls was selected by Labour and Cooperative candidates for Normanton's parliamentary seat in West Yorkshire, a Labour stronghold whose MP, Bill O'Brien, was resigning. He resigned as the Head Economic Advisor to the Treasury, but the Smith Institute, a political think tank, had a post. "The appropriate and appropriate procedures were followed," HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office said later.

He was elected MP for Normanton with a majority of 10,002 to 52% of the vote in 2005 general election. Balls fought for the seat and battled against the Boundary Commission's plans, as well as the three other Wakefield MPs (his wife Yvette Cooper, Mary Creagh, and Jon Trickett).

He was nominated for the new Morley and Outwood constituency in March 2007; unlike Normanton's previous safe Labour seat, which contained portions of the defunct Normanton and Morley constituencies, and was elected in May 2010 for the new seat. Balls voted in favour of marriage equality in the United Kingdom on February 5th. Balls was a member of the Labour Friends of Israel.

In the Cabinet reshuffle of May 2006, Balls became Economic Secretary to the Treasury, a junior ministerial position in the Treasury. Although the Israeli–Palestinian war was triggered by the G7 finance ministers to author a study on the economic aspects of the Israeli–Palestinian war, the Economic Secretary was ordered, alongside Jon Cunliffe, to prepare a paper on economic aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister on June 27, 2007, Balls was named Secretary of State for Children, Schools, and Families. Balls, the Department for Children, Schools, and Families, brought together schools and children's policy for the first time in the Children's Plan, as well as the length of education and training leaving age in the United Kingdom to 18. Balls was expected to be the next Prime Minister in 2007, but Alistair Darling took over the role.

Balls revealed in October 2008 that the government had agreed to eliminate SAT assessments for 14-year-olds, a development that was widely welcomed by teachers, parent organizations, and opposition MPs. By head teachers' boss Mick Brookes' decision to continue with SAT tests for 11-year-olds, he was characterized as a missed opportunity.

Following the death of Baby P. Balls, his immediate involvement in the management of Haringey Social Services culminated in the dismissal of Sharon Shoesmith's Services Director without compensation. David Cameron had also called for her dismissal.

Shoesmith had been lauded in her previous work as the Director of Education, but she was left homeless due to her lack of social work experience. Following the child violence trial, a priority OFSTED report was released by Balls in November 2008, finding that safeguarding arrangements were ineffective, although Shoesmith's lawyers argued that the final report had been changed. Balls, Ofsted, and Haringey Council was eventually subjected to a Judicial investigation by Shoesmith, which culminated in a string of appeals.

Balls' right to dismiss her "because ministers want to uphold the fact that they – not the judiciary – are to blame for their decisions" rather than the courts. Her dismissal was considered "procedurably unfair" by the Department for Children, Schools, and Families, who then refused to appeal to the Supreme Court, despite her appeal.

Shoesmith had entered a 'out-of-court settlement with Haringey Council in October 2013,' according to unconfirmed reports, a sum of 'up to £600,000.' Balls' dismissal of Shoesmith as "unlawful," according to Appeal Court judge Lord Neuberger, who said in a tweet on Sunday that Balls would do the same thing again.'

The Children, Schools, and Families Bill, which saw its first reading on November 19, 2009, was sponsored by Balls. Parts of the new legislation would include mandatory inspections to determine the child's education and welfare. Home educators around the United Kingdom have lobbied to withdraw the existing legislation.

Several elements of the bill, including the suggested home educator register and compulsory sex education lessons, were rejected as a result of a lack of cross-party support prior to the upcoming May 2010 election.

Balls reported on May 19 that he was running in the election to replace Brown following Gordon Brown's resignation as both Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Balls was the third candidate to secure a minimum of 33 nominations from members of the Parliamentary Labour Party in order to run for the leadership race. Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, former Health Secretary Andy Burnham, backbencher Diane Abbott, and former Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who was elected, were among the candidates.

Ed Miliband appointed Balls Shadow Home Secretary on October 8, 2010, a post he held until January 20th, 2011, when Miliband announced Balls as Labour's Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, appeared regularly with Miliband at joint press conferences on Labour policy. Balls, Miliband, and the Shadow Chancellor, a "five-point strategy for jobs and growth" as Shadow Chancellor. The initiative was described as aimed at improving the UK economy and could have involved reinstating the bonus tax to fund more social homes, bringing forward long-term investment, lowering VAT on home improvements to 5% for a year, and triggering a one-year national insurance break.

Balls declared in January 2012 that he would keep with the public sector wage freeze, which caused Len McCluskey's outrage. He had a bruising chat with George Osborne about the Libor rate controversy, where Osborne accused Balls of being complicit in the scandal. Conservative MPs became outraged after Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker refused to urge Barclays to pressurise Barclays, according to Andrea Leadsom who said Osborne made a mistake and should apologise.

Balls lost his seat to Andrea Jenkyns of the Conservative Party by a margin of 0.9 percent in the 2015 general election. Balls was expected to forfeit, according to reports that the Labour leader's office knew for two weeks that it was likely to be defunct. This is Larry Elliott of The Guardian who characterized it as the election's Portillo moment. Balls will spend up to £88,000 on relocation and closing down his parliamentary office, according to the newspaper on May 11th.

Balls was advised by an assistant to search for a new article about himself on Twitter and then sent a tweet that read only "Ed Balls." Thousands of people were retweeted by thousands, and Balls was unaware that it was possible to delete tweets. The tweet has never been taken down. Every 28 April, the event is now known as "Ed Balls Day," with followers retweeting his original message and commemorating the occasion in other ways. Balls was asked to sell something to raise money for the party in 2015, and he sent a framed, signed printout of the tweet. Balls baked a cake starring the tweet in honor of "Ed Balls Day" in 2016.

Ed Balls Day 2017 attracted tweets from organisations such as Virgin Atlantic and the National Trust, the latter in reaction to Prime Minister Theresa May's remark on the National Trust's decision to withdraw the word "Easter" from promotional literature for Easter egg hunts.

Ed Balls Day is still being commemorated, with some of them wishing each other a "Good Ed Balls Day" online in the style of a public holiday.

Later career

Balls was elected Senior Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and then Visiting Professor of King's College, London, after leaving politics. He was named as the chairman of Norwich City, F.C., by a lottery administrator. In December 2015, he supported the football team he loves. In December 2018, he stood down.

He appeared on The Great Sport Relief Bake Off and Series 14 of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2016. He was partnered with Katya Jones, a Russian professional dancer. "The father-dancing senator received a standing ovation from the studio audience, chuckles from the judges, and enough viewer votes to keep him out of yet another dance-off," Michael Hogan said in his sixth week Halloween special. At the 2017 Television BAFTA Awards, his dance to "Gangnam Style" was nominated for the Must-See Moment Award. In week 10, he was finally cut from the team.

Speaking Out, Balls' autobiographical memoir Speaking Out was published in August 2016. Labour's four-week general election campaign in 2015 was "astonishably dysfunctional," he said, and that "we weren't able – and didn't deserve – to return to government. Jeremy Corbyn's leadership campaign was also described as a "leftist utopian fantasianism devoid of any link to people's lives."

Travels in Trumpland with Ed Balls began airing on BBC Two on July 29, 2018. It looks like the backers of then President Donald Trump and how things have changed. Balls took part in a professional wrestling match in order to investigate the link between Trump and the sport during one episode.

Travels in Europe with Ed Balls, a three-part documentary, debuted on BBC Two on January 23, 2020. It examines the role of austerity in European politics, the rise of right-wing nationalists, and the effect of austerity in European politics.

Balls was ranked 74 in 'The 100 Most Influential People on the Left' in September 2017 by commentator Iain Dale.

Balls, a contestant on British television show Will I Lie to You? in November 2017, Balls revealed that he once negotiated the Home Office budget while crawling in a children's ball pit.

In January and February 2021 Balls was the champion of BBC One's Celebrity Best Home Cook.

Crisis In Care, a two-part documentary examining the challenges facing social care providers in England, was hosted by Ed Balls on November 8 and 15.

He appeared on BBC television show Who Do You Think You Are on November 30, 2021.

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