In one of the biggest upsets of the general election Ed Balls, who would have been Chancellor in a future Labour government, has lost his seat and will not be returning to Westminster with the new intake of MPs
Balls, who served as Shadow Chancellor in the last parliament, was defending a small majority of 1,101 in his Yorkshire seat Morley and Outwood. In the event he lost out to the Conservative candidate by 422 votes, after a tense early morning recount.
Victory went to Andrea Jenkyns, who polled 18,776 for the Conservatives, beating Balls’ total of 18,354. Jenkyns is a complete newcomer to politics, only deciding to run for parliament after her father died of an MSRA infection during treatment at a local NHS hospital.
In contrast, Balls was originally one of Tony Blair’s economic advisers during the 1997 Labour government. He then spent a decade in parliament, first becoming an MP in 2005. Ed Miliband made him shadow chancellor in 2011.
Balls is married to Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who held on to her seat, and who has served as shadow home secretary. Cooper is one of the names being put forward as a possible contender for the Labour leadership, with Ed Miliband widely expected to announce his resignation later today.
