Profile of Rt Hon. Ed Balls MP
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

Born in Norwich in 1967, Ed's family moved to Nottingham when he was 8. He attended Nottingham High School and Keble College, Oxford followed by the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard.

Ed was previously MP for Normanton and Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

Ed brought together schools and children's policy for the first time in the Children's Plan and pushed through radical and progressive policies including raising the education and training age to 18, reform of the social work profession, establishing the support staff negotiating body and extra investment in youth services and short breaks for disabled children and their families.

In opposition as chief economic adviser to the Treasury, Ed worked on policies including independence of the Bank of England, the windfall tax and New Deal jobs programme, Sure Start, tax credits and the national minimum wage.

Ed has been a teaching fellow in the Department of Economics, Harvard (1989-90) and a columnist for the Financial Times, Guardian, New Statesman and Tribune

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