Ed Balls: Seemingly unpopular and yet strangely compelling

By Rob Chesworth

An article in The Guardian yesterday lists Vince Cable as Britain’s most popular politician, ahead of both components of Cleggeron as well as Ken Clarke and William Hague (??!), who also seem to be popular with the public according to a PoliticsHome survey. At the opposite end of the popularity spectrum is Lord Mandelson and alongside him Ed Balls, a serious candidate for the Labour party leadership. I don’t think I’m going hugely out on a limb to say that rightly or wrongly, the perception of Ed Balls is not exactly wonderful – Alastair Campbell’s latest set of diaries describe him as “full of bile” and his accepted status as former chief Brownite do nothing for his street cred.

However, Balls has a fiercely loyal Robin Hood-esque band of allies who make the debate of his candidacy compelling. Respected MPs such as Tom Watson and Kerry McCarthy have declared their support for him, as has the Speaker’s wife and Labour supporter Sally Bercow. Ellie Gellard too has been leading the charge for Balls’ candidacy with blogs, tweets, facebook groups and all the social media she can bring to the fore.

I respect and listen to each of the above, and as I sat reading Stephen Moss‘ interview with Balls in The Guardian I finally became interested. Balls seems aware of how he is perceived and since declaring his candidacy his “softer, family man image” has been noted.

Then, after Prime Minister’s Questions this week I watched Ed Balls take Michael Gove to the cleaners in the House of Commons; not only was his display entertaining but it was hugely impressive too. He avoided soaring rhetoric put peppered Gove with questions for which he simply could not provide answers. That too, impressed me.

Having read numerous interviews with Balls I am enamoured by his eagerness to re-engage with those disillusioned with Labour’s failings over the past 13 years, in fact this message was the crux of the opening stanza of Gellard’s piece on Balls in the Guardian. I try to take this with a slight pinch of salt, however, as I sincerely hope anyone leading the Labour Party come September will do their utmost to address the failings of their predecessors and begin the process of righting wrongs.

There are minor things about Balls that I find irksome, his recent condemnation of our involvement in the war in Iraq comes with all the benefits that hindsight can possibly afford, and whilst he was not an MP at the time, his voting record in 2006 and 2007 indicates that he didn’t feel as though an investigation into Iraq was necessary then. Like many, I accept that Iraq is so strong a source of discontent that it should be addressed by our leadership contenders, but I strongly urge that it is done so carefully, and we should all be aware of the rose tinted lenses afforded by retrospection. I also find it difficult to acknowledge that his awkward, irksome reputation is entirely fictitious – but I do not know Mr Balls and have never met him; as such as I’ll be making no judgements in this regard until I’ve seen him debate fellow leadership contenders.

For me Ed Balls is a curious case, seemingly unpopular and yet strangely compelling. But I am finally convinced: Balls’ candidacy represents as good a reason as we need for Labour leadership hustings – I look forward to seeing him in action.