Ed Balls to make a Commons comeback? “Never say never” says the Strictly star

Ed Balls, the former shadow chancellor, says he has not ruled out the possibility of a political comeback.

Balls made clear that it had not been his plan to use Strictly Come Dancing to relaunch his political career but said that winning so many votes from the public to keep him in the show was a very different experience to losing his seat in 2015.

He said: “If I had set out for a political comeback I’m not sure I’d have channelled Zoolander” and that “I’m not sure I would have done Gangnam or Great Balls of Fire. It’s such a weird time.”

Balls was eliminated in the dance off this weekend from Strictly.

Balls, former education secretary, lost his redrawn Morley and Outwood seat by 422 votes at the 2015 general election but if the outcome of the boundary review goes ahead then it appears likely the seat would turn Labour once again.

Since leaving the Commons, Balls has been appointed a senior fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and visiting professor at Kings College London, in addition to his recent famous escapades on the dance floor.

In an interview with The Sun, Balls said in response to speculation that he might be making a return to the political frontline: “You never say never. People have seen how I have done this for three months after being a politician for 20 years — entertaining people and having a good time. There was no plan or plot, but who knows?”

One bookmaker currently has Balls on 33/1 odds as being the next Labour leader.

Earlier this month, Balls wrote a paper alongside two academics urging a rethink of the Bank of England’s independence. His intervention, urging a separation of operational independence from political aspects, demonstrates that he has not completely lost the urge to involve himself in political projects.

In his autobiography from this year, he was critical of the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying that he is living in a “leftist utopian fantasy”.