Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British politician, and Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for the West Yorkshire constituency of Normanton. Since June 2007 he has been Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families is a Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom. ... For the ecclesiastical office, see Incumbent (ecclesiastical). ... For others with the same or similar names, see Gordon Brown (disambiguation). ... For the ecclesiastical office, see Incumbent (ecclesiastical). ... Normanton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... For the ecclesiastical office, see Incumbent (ecclesiastical). ... // is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... William OBrien (born 25 January 1929) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. ... For the ecclesiastical office, see Incumbent (ecclesiastical). ... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Labour Co-operative describes those candidates in British elections standing on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, based on a national agreement between the two parties. ... Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) British politician. ... The Department for Communities and Local Government is a United Kingdom government department. ... Arms of the former Castleford Borough Council Castleford is one of the five towns in the Wakefield borough, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near to Pontefract, with a population of 37,525 according to the 2001 Census. ... College name Keble College Collegium Keblense Named after John Keble Established 1870 Sister College Selwyn College Warden Professor Dame Averil Cameron DBE FBA JCR President Paul Dwyer Undergraduates 435 MCR President Tom Robinson Graduates 219 Homepage Boatclub Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... The politics of the United Kingdom are based upon a unitary state and a constitutional monarchy. ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the British political party. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Coat of Arms of South Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, that has a population of 2. ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... Normanton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families is a Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom. ...

Early life and education

Born in Norwich he was educated at the private fee paying Nottingham High School and Keble College, Oxford where he studied PPE, and later as a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University. He joined the Labour Party at the age of 16 but while at Oxford joined all the main political societies so that he could "hear all the speeches at all the political clubs" [1]. His career began as economic leader writer at the Financial Times (1990–1994) followed by his appointment as an economic adviser to the then shadow chancellor Gordon Brown (1994–1997). In 1995, in a speech written for Gordon Brown to give to an economics conference, he managed to insert the jargon phrase "post neoclassical endogenous growth theory"^[1]. This was later gleefully recounted by Michael Heseltine, who coined the humorous quip: "It's not Brown's - it's Balls'."[2] Norwich (IPA: //) is a city in East Anglia, in Eastern England. ... Nottingham High School is a leading UK independent fee-paying boys public school situated about a mile north of Nottingham city centre. ... College name Keble College Collegium Keblense Named after John Keble Established 1870 Sister College Selwyn College Warden Professor Dame Averil Cameron DBE FBA JCR President Paul Dwyer Undergraduates 435 MCR President Tom Robinson Graduates 219 Homepage Boatclub Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) is a popular interdisciplinary degree which combines study from the three eponymous disciplines. ... The Kennedy Memorial Trust was founded in 1964 to commemorate the US President John F. Kennedy who had been assassinated in 1963. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... The Financial Times (FT) is a British international business newspaper. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... For others with the same or similar names, see Gordon Brown (disambiguation). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC (born 21 March 1933) is a British businessman and Conservative Party politician. ...

Political career

As Labour swept to power in the General Election of 1997 he continued as an economic adviser to Brown, who was now Chancellor. He then served as chief economic adviser to HM Treasury from 1999 to 2004, in which post he was once named the most powerful unelected person in Britain. The UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters. ... The new eastern entrance to HM Treasury HM Treasury, in full Her Majestys Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the UK Governments financial and economic policy. ...

In July 2004 he was selected to stand as Labour and Co-operative candidate for the parliamentary seat of Normanton in West Yorkshire, a Labour stronghold whose MP, Bill O'Brien, retired. He stepped down as chief economic adviser to the Treasury, but was given a paid position at the Smith Institute, a political thinktank with extremely close ties to Gordon Brown.[3] The Smith Institute is currently subject to its second Charity Commission investigation in five years regarding suspected breaches of the rules governing the impartiality of charitable organisations.[4] Coat of Arms of South Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, that has a population of 2. ... William OBrien (born 25 January 1929) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. ... The Smith Institute is a think tank in the United Kingdom, which has been set up to undertake research and education in issues that flow from the changing relationship between social values and economic imperatives. ...

In the 2005 general election he was elected MP for Normanton with a majority of 10,002 and 51.2% of the vote. The West Yorkshire seat has been occupied by Labour MPs for longer than any other constituency in the United Kingdom. It is, however, scheduled to disappear before the next election under the latest changes proposed by the Boundary Commission. Balls ran a campaign, in connection with the local newspaper the Wakefield Express, to save the seat and, together with the three other Wakefield MPs (Yvette Cooper, Mary Creagh and Jon Trickett), fought an unsuccessful High Court challenge against the Boundary Commission's proposals. It has been suggested that Marginal constituencies in the United Kingdom be merged into this article or section. ... In the United Kingdom, the four Boundary Commissions are responsible for determining the boundaries of House of Commons constituencies. ... For other uses, see Wakefield (disambiguation). ... Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) British politician. ... Mary Helen Creagh (born 2 December 1967) is a British politician. ... Jonathan Hedley Trickett (born 2 July 1950, Leeds) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ...

In March 2007 he was selected to be the Labour Party candidate for the new Morley and Outwood constituency, which contains part of the abolished Normanton constituency and part of Colin Challen's current Morley and Rothwell constituency. In return for giving way it was rumoured Gordon Brown offered Challen a job on an environmental think tank as well as a possible Lordship.[5][6][7] Morley and Outwood will be a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Normanton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Colin Robert Challen (born June 12, 1953) British politician. ... Morley and Rothwell is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

He became Economic Secretary to the Treasury, a junior ministerial position in HM Treasury, in the Government reshuffle of May 2006. This article is about various offices in the government of the United Kingdom. ... The new eastern entrance to HM Treasury HM Treasury, in full Her Majestys Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the UK Governments financial and economic policy. ...

Balls has played a prominent role in the Fabian Society [8], the think-tank and political society founded in 1884 which helped to found the Labour Party in 1900 and which is affiliated to the party but an independent democratically-constituted society. He published a 1992 Fabian pamphlet advocating Bank of England independence. Balls was elected Vice-Chair of the Fabian Society for 2006 and Chair of the Fabian Society for 2007. As Chair, he opened the Fabian Society's New Year Conference 'The Next Decade' [9] in January 2007, at which Gordon Brown was the keynote speaker. As Vice-Chair of the Fabian Society, he launched the Fabian Life Chances Commission [10] report in April 2006 and opened the Society's Next Decade lecture series[11] in November 2006, arguing for closer European cooperation on the environment. Balls had previously been seen as being a eurosceptic, in Labour party terms, because of his opposition to the euro and the EU constitution.

Balls has been a central figure in New Labour's economic reform agenda. But he and Gordon Brown have differed from the Blairites in being keen to stress their roots in Labour party intellectual traditions such as Fabianism and the co-operative movement as well as their modernising credentials in policy and electoral terms. In a New Statesman interview with Martin Bright in March 2006 [12], Martin Bright writes that Balls 'says the use of the term "socialist" is less of a problem for his generation than it has been for older politicians like Blair and Brown, who remain bruised by the ideological warfare of the 1970s and 1980s'.

‘When I was at college, the economic system in eastern Europe was crumbling. We didn't have to ask the question of whether we should adopt a globally integrated, market-based model. For me, it is now a question of what values you have. Socialism, as represented by the Labour Party, the Fabian Society, the Co-operative movement, is a tradition I can be proud of’, Balls told the New Statesman.

In September 2007, he with his wife Yvette Cooper were accused "breaking the spirit" of Commons rules by using MPs' allowances to help pay for a £655,000 home in north London. It was alleged that they bought a four-bed house in Stoke Newington, north London, and registered this as their second home (rather than their home in Castleford, West Yorkshire) in order to qualify for up to £44,000 a year to subsidise a reported £438,000 mortgage under the Commons Additional Costs Allowance. This is despite both spouses working in London full-time and their children attending local London schools. Through a spokesman, Balls and Cooper countered the allegation by saying "The whole family travel between their Yorkshire home and London each week when Parliament is sitting. As they are all in London during the week, their children have always attended the nearest school to their London house."[13]. Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) British politician. ...

Family

He is married to Yvette Cooper MP, a Minister of State in the Communities and Local Government government department (formerly the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister). Cooper is Member of Parliament for Normanton's neighbouring constituency of Pontefract and Castleford, so together they form one of five sets of married couples in the Commons (Nicholas Winterton and Ann Winterton; Andrew Mackay and Julie Kirkbride; Peter Robinson and Iris Robinson; Alan Keen and Ann Keen - to this could be added Gordon Prentice and Bridget Prentice who entered the Commons as man and wife, but have been divorced for many years). They have three children: Ellie, Joe and Maddy. Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) British politician. ... Minister of State is a title borne by officials in certain countries governed under the parliamentary system. ... Communities and Local Government, rebranded from the Department for Communities and Local Government, is the United Kingdom government department for communities and local government . ... The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is a department of the British government. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Normanton is a town in West Yorkshire, England, lying north east of Wakefield and south west of Castleford. ... Pontefract and Castleford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Type Lower House Speaker of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Commons Michael Martin, (Non-affiliated) since October 23, 2000 Harriet Harman, QC, (Labour) since June 28, 2007 Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Theresa May, PC, (Conservative) since December 6, 2005 Members 646 Political groups... Sir Nicholas Raymond Winterton, (born March 31, 1938, Rugeley, Staffordshire) is a British politician, and Conservative Member of Parliament for Macclesfield. ... Lady Jane Ann Winterton (born March 6, 1941 as Jane Ann Hodgson in Sutton Coldfield) is the British Member of Parliament for Congleton, and was first elected as a Conservative MP in 1983. ... The Right Honourable Andrew James MacKay (born August 27, 1949, Birmingham) is a British politician, and for the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Bracknell. ... Julie Kirkbride (born 5 June 1960, Halifax) is an English politician. ... Peter David Robinson (born December 29, 1948) is a Democratic Unionist Party Member of Parliament for East Belfast. ... Iris Robinson (born September 6, 1949 in Belfast as Iris Collins) is a Northern Ireland unionist politician. ... David Alan Keen (born 25 November 1937, Lewisham, London) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ... Ann Lloyd Keen (born 26 November 1948, Wales as Ann Lloyd Fox) is a Labour Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. ... Gordon Prentice (born January 28, 1951, Edinburgh) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ... Bridget Theresa Prentice (born 28 December 1952, Glasgow, as Bridget Theresa Corr) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ...

His father Michael Balls is a former academic and European civil servant, an expert in alternatives to the use of animals in experiments and chairman of the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME). Michael Balls is a British zoologist and professor emeritus of zoology at Nottingham University. ...

Type Bicameral Houses House of Commons House of Lords Speaker of the House of Commons The Right Honourable Michael Martin MP Lord Speaker Hélène Hayman, Baroness Hayman, PC Members 1377 (646 Commons, 731 Peers) Political groups (as of May 5, 2005 elections) Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats... William OBrien (born 25 January 1929) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Normanton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... It has been suggested that Marginal constituencies in the United Kingdom be merged into this article or section. ... Ivan Lewis (born 4 March 1967) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about various offices in the government of the United Kingdom. ... Kitty Ussher (born 18 March 1971, Aylesbury) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ... The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families is a Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom. ... Gordon Brown is currently serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... Douglas Garven Alexander (born October 26, 1967) is a British politician who is Secretary of State for International Development. ... Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland PC (born 20 March 1956) is a Labour member of the House of Lords. ... Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (November 26, 1953) is a British politician, a current member of the British cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development and Labour Member of Parliament for the West Yorkshire constituency of Leeds Central. ... Hazel Anne Blears MP (born May 14, 1956) is a British politician and is the Labour Member of Parliament for Salford. ... For others with the same or similar names, see Gordon Brown (disambiguation). ... Desmond Henry Browne (born 22 March 1952), commonly known as Des Browne, is a Scottish Labour Party politician. ... The Rt Hon. ... Alistair Maclean Darling (born November 28, 1953) is a British politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer since June 28, 2007. ... John Yorke Denham (born July 15, 1953) British politician, Labour Member of Parliament for Southampton Itchen and Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills. ... Peter Gerald Hain PC MP (born February 16, 1950, Nairobi, Kenya) is a British Labour Party politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Secretary of State for Wales. ... Harriet Ruth Harman QC, MP (born July 30, 1950, London) is a British Solicitor and Labour politician. ... Geoff Hoon (right) at Pentagon briefing Geoffrey William Geoff Hoon (born December 6, 1953) is a British politician. ... For other persons named John Hutton, see John Hutton (disambiguation). ... Alan Arthur Johnson MP (born 17 May 1950, London) is a British Labour Party politician. ... Ruth Maria Kelly (born 9 May 1968) is a British politician. ... David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is a British politician who is the current Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [1] and Member of Parliament for the constituency of South Shields, Tyne and Wear. ... Edward Samuel Miliband (born December 24, 1969, London, England) is a British economist and British politician. ... James Mark Dakin Purnell (born 2 March 1970, London) is a politician in the United Kingdom. ... Jacqueline Jill Smith (born 3 November 1962) is a British politician who has been Home Secretary since 28 June 2007 and is the current Member of Parliament for Redditch, since 1997. ... Jack Straw was/is the name of two famous individuals: John Whitaker Straw (born August 3, 1946), commonly known as Jack Straw, is a British Labour Party politician. ... Shaun Anthony Woodward (born October 26, 1958, Bristol) is a British politician, and Labour Member of Parliament for St Helens South. ... Ian Christopher Austin (March 6, 1965) British politician and Labour Party Member of Parliament for Dudley North. ... Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) British politician. ... Bruce Grocott, Baron Grocott, PC (born November 1, 1940), is a politician in the United Kingdom. ... Rt. ... Tessa Jowell (born September 17, 1947 in London) is a British politician who is Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for the Olympics, following the selection of London to host the 2012 Olympic Games. ... George Mark Malloch Brown, Baron Malloch-Brown, KCMG, PC (born 1953 in England) is Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with responsibility for Africa, Asia and the United Nations. ... Patricia Janet Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal PC QC (born August 19, 1955) is a barrister and minister in the United Kingdom government. ... Angela Evans Smith (born 7 January United Kingdom. ... Image File history File links Coat_of_arms_of_the_United_Kingdom. ...

Notes

In economics, endogenous growth theory or new growth theory was developed in the 1980s as a response to criticism of the neo-classical growth model. ... Neoclassical economics refers to a general approach (a metatheory) to economics based on supply and demand which depends on individuals (or any economic agent) operating rationally, each seeking to maximize their individual utility or profit by making choices based on available information. ...

External links

• Personal website for the Normanton constituency
• Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Edward Balls MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com – Edward Balls MP
• The Public Whip - Edward Balls MP, Normanton voting record
• "Backroom bruiser steps out from Brown's shadow" – The Guardian interview with Ed Balls, July 10, 2004
• FRAME website