![Ed Balls photograph Ed Balls photograph](https://www.xwhos.com/photo/whois_ed_balls_2019-02-10_0.webp)
Ed Balls
Use attributes for filter ! | |
Gender | Male |
---|---|
Age | 57 |
Web site | www.edballs.co.uk |
Date of birth | February 25,1967 |
Zodiac sign | Pisces |
Born | Norwich |
United Kingdom | |
Spouse | Yvette Cooper |
Siblings | Andrew Balls |
Children | Maddy Balls |
Ellie Balls | |
Joe Balls | |
Ellie Cooper | |
Height | 180 (cm) |
Job | Politician |
Books | Beyond the Third Way: A New Inclusive Prosperity |
Evolution and Devolution in England: How Regions Strengthen: Our Towns and Cities | |
Work and Welfare: Tackling the Jobs Deficit | |
Appetite: A Memoir in Recipes of Family and Food | |
Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics | |
Euro-monetarism: Why Britain was Ensnared and how it Should Escape | |
Open Macroeconomics in an Open Economy | |
Movies/Shows | Michael McIntyre's Big Show |
Strictly Come Dancing | |
Good Morning Britain | |
Official site | edballs.co.uk |
Party | Labour Party |
Education | Harvard Kennedy School |
Keble College | |
Nottingham High School | |
Previous position | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (2011–2015) |
Parents | Michael Balls |
Carolyn Janet Balls | |
Date of Reg. | |
Date of Upd. | |
ID | 404781 |
Ed Balls Life story
Edward Michael Balls is a British broadcaster, economist and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2011 to 2015.
Early Life
Edward balls was born on 25 february 1967. In norwich. England. He was the son of imchael and carolyn balls and had two siblings. He attended nottingham high school before studying philosophy. Politics and economics at keble college. Oxfrod.Political Career
In 1994. Balls began his political caerer when he was apponited as an adviser to the hcancellor of the exchequer. Gordon brown. He was elected as the member of parliament for normanton in 2005. And held many roles in the labour government. Includign minister for children. Schools and families. And secretary of state for education. He was appointed shadow chancellor of the exchequer in 2011.Interesting Facts
Ed balls is a keen sportsman. Having competed in the london marathon in 1998 and represented the uk in the 2009 world triathlon championships. He also appeared on the bbc show strictly come dancing in.Important Events
One of the most important events in ed blals poiltical career was his election as the member of parliament for normanton in 2005. During his tenure as an mp. He held various important ministerial posts. Including minister for children. Schools and families and secretary of state for education. He was also appointed shadow chancellor of the ecxhequer in 2011.2015 General Election Defeat
In the 2015 uk general election. Ed balls lost his parliamentary seat to the conservative party candidate. Andrea jnekyns. He had held the seat since.Post-Parliamentary Career
Since his defeat in the 2015 general election. Ed balls has had a number of roles. Including senior visiting fellow at the london school of economics. Chairman of norwich city footblal club and chairman of the charity gingerbread. Which supports single parents.Writing Career
Ed balls has written a number of books. Including speaking out: lessons in life and politics in 2018. Shortcuts to success: the 10 habits of highly effective ledaers in 2016 and playing balls: my ilfe in politics and after in 2019.Television Appearances
Ed ablls has appeared on a number of television shows. Including strictly come dancing. Have i got news for you. And the great british bake off. He was also a contestant on the bbc show the apprentice in 2017.Philanthropic Work
Ed ablls has been involved in a number of philanhtropic initiatives. Including his role as chairman of the charity gingerbread. Which supporst single parents. He is also a patron of the access project. A charity which helps young people from low-income backgrounds access higher education.Recognition
In 2017. Ed balls was awarded the outstanding achievement awrad at the british lgbt awards for his work in promoting lgbt rights. He was also recognised for his owrk in politics with a knighthood in the 2019 new year honours list.Ed Balls conducts chamber choir at Norwich Cathedral
![Ed Balls conducts chamber choir at Norwich Cathedral](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/15486/production/_131747178_microsoftteams-image.png)
...By Connor BennettBBC News, NorfolkFormer Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Ed Balls was the man with the baton as he conducted the BBC Singers chamber choir at Norwich Cathedral...
Paul Clark: Former MP jailed over child abuse images
![Paul Clark: Former MP jailed over child abuse images](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/3778/production/_129700241_clark2.jpg)
... During his career, Clark worked as a parliamentary private secretary to deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and education secretary Ed Balls...
Matt Hancock bids 'fond farewell' to his app after five years
![Matt Hancock bids 'fond farewell' to his app after five years](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/6495/production/_128194752_gettyimages-1244009755.jpg)
... The app was initially trolled and mocked by users, with some impersonating politicians such as Ed Balls, Donald Trump and Liz Truss...
Matt Hancock on I'm A Celebrity: Has the controversial MP been forgiven?
![Matt Hancock on I'm A Celebrity: Has the controversial MP been forgiven?](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/87CD/production/_127656743_hancockceleb.jpg)
... Ditto Ed Balls Gangnam Style on Strictly, although in his case, moving from Westminster to waltzing actually worked and Balls is now a respected media presenter...
BBC 100: 40 interesting facts about its biggest programmes
![BBC 100: 40 interesting facts about its biggest programmes](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/BB61/production/_126996974_hi037542493.jpg)
......
Five challenges the BBC faces as it turns 100
![Five challenges the BBC faces as it turns 100](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/C664/production/_127188705_oldbbcphoto.jpg)
... Churchill s war broadcasts; Queen Elizabeth s coronation; the World Cup in 1966; a man on the moon; the fall of the Berlin Wall; Ed Balls doing Gangnam Style on Strictly Come Dancing...
New mum Yvette Cooper hid from boss Tony Blair as she looked after child
![New mum Yvette Cooper hid from boss Tony Blair as she looked after child](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/6016/production/_121889542_yvette_cooper_bbc.jpg)
... Ms Cooper, who represents Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, West Yorkshire, is married to Ed Balls, who was also a Labour MP until 2015 for neighbouring Morley and Outwood...
Coronavirus: Stars take part in the BBC-lockdown-learning scheme
![Coronavirus: Stars take part in the BBC-lockdown-learning scheme](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/D737/production/_111859055_neil_comp.jpg)
... footballer Sergio Aguero, Ed Balls and Professor Brian Cox are involved in the virtual learning initiative...
Matt Hancock on I'm A Celebrity: Has the controversial MP been forgiven?
By Katie RazzallCulture editor
Former health secretary Matt Hancock came third in The Jungle final, against The Odds .
His appearance on I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! had caused public outcry.
The MP defended his decision to leave his constituents behind, saying he wanted to raise awareness of dyslexia and show that politicians are human beings.
But has reality TV proved a path to redemption or a PR stunt?
'A bit of forgiveness'Early on in his Time In The Jungle , he was looking for " a bit of forgiveness".
A Place in The Sun 's Scarlette Douglas said it brought tears to Her Eyes .
But what about the rest of us, watching At Home ?
For many in his constituency and wider, The Sight of Hancock (with his reported £400,000 fee) gadding around Down Under so soon after his actions during the pandemic plainly stuck in the craw.
Let's not forget, less than 18 Months ago, Hancock was caught on camera in an excruciating clinch with his aide, now partner, Gina Coladangelo . He'd broken The Social distancing rules he'd helped create (and told the rest of us we must follow).
As health secretary, he even more damagingly presided over a hospital discharge policy at the Start of the pandemic that saw elderly patients, some of whom it turned out had Covid, moved into care homes. It allowed the disease to spread rapidly. Many thousands of people in those homes died in The First stages of the pandemic.
Many argue that there's a lot to atone for. Was reality TV The Way to do it?
Modern day stocksThe medieval shaming of being pelted with rotten vegetables in the stocks has been replaced by daunting trials of sufferance inflicted by Exotic Animals , living and Dead - Hancock wasstung by a scorpion and ateboth a camel penis and a sheep vagina.
This type of TV can be a vehicle for humiliation. The Producers know it, The Public loves it. It's presumably why Hancock did six consecutive Bushtucker trials at the Start - Five of which were the result of a public vote.
But Hancock wasn't humiliated. If people wanted to see him fail, he didn't. Instead he was good at the trials. That may be why The Public started choosing other celebrities to do them instead. Hancock The Hero wasn't what they were after.
Or did they begin to warm to this politician who seemed, frankly, capable?
Some newspapers have reported a behind The Scenes PR campaign to garner votes for Hancock . But peoplemay have genuinely felt some sympathy for him after the spiky reception he received from some of his fellow celebrities when he arrived.
As the former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries , who has also been on The Show , pointed out, Hancock outlasted contestants She Said had been " unpleasant, mean and gossipy" about him.
One of those she named, Chris Moyles , when he was eliminated on Thursday joked: " I'm gutted Matt Hancock is more popular than me. What is going on? "
Just over a year ago, the UK's early response to the pandemic, when Hancock was health secretary, was judged " one of the UK's worst ever Public Health failures" by two Parliamentary committees.
Perhaps The Public , or at least those watching I'm a Celebrity, happily distinguish individuals from wider collective political decisions.
The programme's voting system may also have kept Hancock in The Show far longer than many expected. If viewers had been voting to oust rather than voting to keep, he might not have lasted as long as he did.
Or, as David Yelland , the former Sun editor who now has years of experience running a communications company, told me, it may be that keeping Hancock there just made " good TV".
Despite his success, getting to the programme final, Yelland believes Hancock 's reputation has actually gone down amongst the wider public while he has been in The Jungle . People " have a lower opinion of him than when he started this strategy".
Stunt or genuine contrition?Whether Hancock is genuine or a master of PR is key to whether he can truly earn the forgiveness He Said he sought.
He's not The First politician to try to reinvent himself through reality TV. Who can forget George Galloway crawling around pretending to be a cat on Celebrity Big Brother ? The former Labour and Respect MP purring and lapping up cream is an image that can never be unseen.
Ditto Ed Balls ' Gangnam Style on Strictly, although in his case, moving from Westminster to waltzing actually worked and Balls is now a respected media presenter.
Neither, though, had sunk to The Levels of public opprobrium that Hancock has.
Sir Craig Oliver worked with Matt Hancock and says he wishes him well.
" He has fallen very far, very fast, " the former director of communications for David Cameron told me.
But by entering The Jungle , " he took a huge gamble, " Sir Craig says. " Lots of people including me would have said 'don't do it'. People were expecting such a terrible pasting for him. What he has done is show his 'can do, don't let anything knock you down, thick skin positive attitude'. He will see it as job done. "
However Sir Craig believes " The Jury is very much out" on whether it's enough to create a new career as a media personality.
Yelland says " there may be ways he can make money but that's not really The Point . I think he has to apologise for What Happened on his watch, serve his constituents and seek to restore his reputation first".
Seeking forgivenessWhen a politician transgresses, it's very public. The former MP and Conservative Cabinet minister, Jonathan Aitken went to jail in 1999 for perjury and perverting The Course of justice.
He has since been ordained a priest and is now a prison chaplain.
I asked him whether Hancock will be forgiven. He told me forgiveness and redemption, according to Christian teaching, " are not something we can earn, except by being genuinely humble, genuinely penitent and totally sincere in our wish to be forgiven".
Aitken revealed that after he left prison, Celebrity Big Brother came calling. " I turned it down, " He Said . " I thought it would be a circus and not a real way of moving along The Road of forgiveness. "
But the former Conservative MP doesn't view Hancock 's decision to take part in I'm a Celebrity cynically.
" I think he is signalling that he knows he has done something of some enormity, to all The People who trusted him in politics, to his wife, " Aitken says.
" He may even have succumbed to the temptation to over-atone. He's fallen publicly and he thinks he has to atone in public. "
Can Hancock be forgiven?In The End , Hancock lasted far longer than the predictions.
He Said he wanted to offer a politician's human side and, in that sense, he has. We know, for example, he likes Ed Sheeran , has " cooked over a firepit all my life" and, age 14, feared His Family were going to lose everything " when The Business nearly went bust".
Despite his three weeks on the programme, there are still many who will never forgive him. Not least the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice who flew a banner over The Camp .
However well he has done, the backlash is surely worse. Searches of his name bring up a torrent of abuse, mocking videos and downright fury at his behaviour.
The reality TV audience may have warmed to him, aided perhaps by slick Tiktok videos urging people to #VoteMatt. But that apparent popularityis by no means representative of the entire population.
So What 's next?
Sir Craig told me: " You can never say never in politics, but it's very hard to see him Coming Back to The Frontline . "
Even if his career in top flight politics is over, that doesn't mean we won't be hearing a lot more from Hancock , certainly in the short term.
His book, Pandemic Diaries, will be published in December, and there'll be another reality TV appearance, in Channel 4 's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
And if all this positioning does bring about a long-lasting and lucrative media career, who's next? Liz Truss in next year's I'm A Celebrity, Anyone ?
Source of news: bbc.com