Ed Balls is a broadcaster, writer and economist. He is a regular presenter on ITV’s flagship breakfast show, Good Morning Britain, and co-hosts a weekly podcast, Political Currency, with former Chancellor George Osborne. Ed is Professor of Political Economy at King’s College, London, a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and co-Chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation.
His latest BBC series, ‘Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls’ was broadcast on BBC 2 in November 2021. Ed previously presented the BBC TV series ‘Travels in Trumpland: with Ed Balls’ which was broadcast in July 2018 and a second series ‘Travels in Euroland with Ed Balls’ aired on BBC 2 in January 2020. He presented the BBC TV series ‘What Britain Buys And Sells In A Day’, which broadcast in October 2019, and has appeared regularly on BBC’s The One Show, Radio 2, Radio 3 and Radio 4. Ed was part of the core ITN Election night team in 2017 and 2019 and appeared weekly on Channel 4’s The Andrew Neil Show.
Ed, a former Member of Parliament, was UK Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (2011-2015) and served in the UK Cabinet as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (2007-2010). He was the UK Minister for Financial Services (2006-2007) and the Chief Economic Adviser to the UK Treasury (1999-2004) during which time he was Chair of the IMFC Deputies and UK G20 Deputy. While Shadow Chancellor he was co-Chair with Larry Summers of the Center for American Progress Inclusive Prosperity Commission.
Ed is married to Yvette Cooper MP. They have three children and live in London and Castleford. His interests include learning the piano, running, cooking, sailing, drumming and supporting Norwich City, where he is a Vice-President and former Club Chairman. Ed was the winner of the BBC’s Celebrity Best Home Cook in February 2021. He was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing 2016 and was nominated for a Bafta for TV moment of the year in 2016 and as part of the ITN General Election team in 2017 and 2019. In February 2019, Ed climbed Kilimanjaro with eight other well-known climbers, raising over £2m for Comic Relief.
Ed’s second book, ‘Appetite: a Memoir in Recipes of Family and Food’ was published by Simon & Schuster in August 2021 and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller. His previous book ‘Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics’ was published by Penguin Random House in 2016 and was also ranked a Top Ten bestseller.
TESTIMONIALS
Ed – was excellent, so accommodating and really did his research and exactly that we asked for. We have a debrief so I will follow up with anything else.
Polly Sabin | Senior Operations Manager
Euromoney PLC