Naked Ambition

Sometimes, as a journalist, you just have to bow to the sheer quality of someone's writing. Matthew Norman's excoriating profile of Ed Balls in the Independent this week was an exceptional piece of prose. He synthesised the reasons for my deep and at times unfathomable loathing of Balls.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-will-blinky-consign-labour-to-history-1956110.html

His inspiration was Balls's appearance on Newsnight on Tuesday night. Paxo was trying to discern how the Labour front bench would negotiate with Lib-Dems when no party wins a clear majority on 6 May. The Balls strategy was not sophisticated; just stonewall and crudely change the subject.

Paxman was not terribly frustrated by his deliberate obfuscation; as Balls answered the wrong question for the sixth time, old Paxo just looked at him bemusedly, as if to say, "you really have no clue what an arse you're making of yourself."

Ed looked pretty pleased with his idiocy, unconcerned his display of arrogance was exactly what infuriates the electorate to the point of apoplexy.

Matthew Norman called him, "cocky, fake, slimy, inelegant, ineloquent, charmless, witless, weird, sinister, glacially cold and luminestently remote," adding, "he may be the most chillingly repulsive politician of even this golden generation."

Brown was unelected by the Labour Party in 2007 because Ed Balls did not want David Miliband or Alan Johnson building a power base to launch their leadership challlenge in 2010. He still thinks he can win although the bookies put him 14-1 fifth favourite behind Miliband (David) at 7/4, his brother Ed as well as Alan Johnson at 6/1, and Hattie Harman at 9/1.

Balls has ensured he will stay in the headlines right up until polling day by picking a huge fight with that notorious bunch of nutter militants, primary school headteachers. Their refusal to administer 'Sats' tests for 11 year olds was supported by 64% but Balls has effectively threatened them with suspension and docking of pay. About 8,500 headteachers are intending to take industrial action from 10 May, that should tell Balls to seek compromise not confrontation.

But that's not the Balls way, he doesn't seem to take anyone's advice. Otherwise he would not be alienating core Labour voters just days before an election. So long as it helps his career, why should he care?