Ed Balls

Former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Economist, Writer & Broadcaster
Keynotes & After Dinner Speaker

After leaving politics in 2015, Ed Balls taught himself to play the piano, passing Grade 5, and also taught himself to cook, leading to an appearance on Sport Relief Bake Off. He has run the London Marathon three times, raising over £160,000 for WhizzKidz and the British Stammering Association.

Ed was a Labour MP for ten years, during which time he was Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, serving until the 2010 general election, in which Labour became the opposition party. He was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Education, followed by Shadow Home Secretary. He served in this role until 2011, when he was appointed as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, a role which he held until his defeat as an MP in the 2015 general election.

Following his election defeat, he became a Senior Fellow at Harvard University Kennedy School's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, and a Visiting Professor to the Policy Institute at King's College London. He was appointed the chairman of Norwich City Football Club in December 2015.

Ed lives in London and Castleford with his wife, former Shadow Home Secretary and Labour MP Yvette Cooper. In 2007 they became the first married couple to serve together in the Cabinet. They have 3 children.

Ed is a Patron of the British Stammering Association and a member of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation Board.

An excellent speaker on Politics and Brexit, To book Ed for your next event, please contact Prime Performers on 020 3500 3331 or info@primeperformers.co.uk

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Testimonials

Ed was fantastic without doubt one of the best speakers that we have had over the years. He was charming, funny, polite and accommodating. His speech hit exactly the right note, he even managed to bring soft drinks into it. He touched on strictly and politics. He did a Q&A which went on for ages and had some random questions all of which he answered without hesitation. He posed for lots of photos, the women in the room absolutely loved him and he had a lot of Strictly posed photos. Fabulous.