Has anyone seen this man?

Huw Thornton

I see that we've got an addition to political terminology: "Bronwites".

It makes them sound rather endearing.

Water

The smile seems to be infectious.

Travis Bickle

Personally speaking if we never see this obnoxious man again then... SO WHAT ?

Silent Hunter

So what are we saying here?

That Labour lack Balls?

:O)

Tina

A few months back Fraser Nelson commented on how when Brown and Labour suffers they always send the women out to take the flak. The men of this weak government have got no erm ......Balls!!

Tom

'Say what you like about the Blairites, but when their leader was in trouble they all rushed to his support.'

You are absolutley right, Blair could rely on big hitters like John Reid, David Blunkett, Charles Clarke etc to go out and robustly fight his corner. Where as Brown surrounding himself with political nobodies, so he wouldn't be over shadowed, has completley back fired.

Neil

Tom totally agree, when all Brown can rely on to present his case on the media is Hoon, Straw, Blears and Harman it's a very poor show.

kinglear

Yeah, but Brown's a totally unappealing person, whereas our Tone could get anyone to do anything - and generally did.

Nicholas

Blears was awful on QT. The lights were on but nobody was home.

Ben

I loathe Ed Balls.

Unlike what he wants, my beloved children are not educational resources to be allocated for the improvement of overall educational standards.

I'll be dead before I allow that to happen.

Water

They always seem to come back don't they, if there's one thing we can rely on it's that.

Very happy Perry of England. Also British in the sense of formerly Great, and proud of what the result means today.

The pic shows a shifty looking male, lurking in a doorway. Is he backing in or creeping out? Is he testing the air for the Supreme Leader? We care not.

However, we learn that Ms. Prudence of Noo-Lie-Bore, the furtive fairy of fishy fables, divines that the economy had something to do with the by-election result. This entirely plausible reason, had, I must admit, passed me by. I am so relieved we have a genius at our national helm.

Marquee Mark

He was last seen supervising the installation of 100 phone lines....

Although it is hard to imagine more than one being needed.

Emily

Unfortunately, James, this isn’t true. Balls gave an interview to the BBC this morning and is quoted on PA:

"Today Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls was at the Holocaust Centre near Laxton in Nottinghamshire to announce the opening of a new exhibition about the Holocaust specifically designed for primary school children.

Mr Balls, who is one of the Prime Minister's closest allies, said: "It was a very bad result, there's no denying that at all. We know that governments in mid-term have difficult by-elections and there have been times in the past when governments have had bad swings (against them). But I don't discount the message we have heard from the voters in Crewe and Nantwich.

"It's important in the next year to expose what the Conservatives stand for because there were a lot of falsehoods being put about ahead of the by-election. I don't think it's right to campaign on the (abolition of the) 10p tax rate and then not come up with a solution."

Asked whether Mr Brown's leadership was under threat, Mr Balls added: "I don't think so at all. We have two years until the next General Election.

"These are difficult times, times when you need strong leadership, values and experience. Gordon Brown has the right values as a leader but it is not going to be turned around in a week.

I think the times when governments fail are the times when they lose a reputation for economic confidence and divide politically and ideologically and as a result lose touch with the public.

We are more united politically than the Labour Party has ever been in its history. We need to show it's the Conservatives who are the party of economic risk who are politically divided."

ferg morrissey

james,i posted a reply on iain dales blog a couple of weeks ago describing balls(piers fletcher-dervish)as the all new macavity.as the 10p tax affair was exploding in gordon browns face,balls was nowhere to be seen.in fact his shrill wife yvette cooper was the only one prepared to defend the boss.as it turned out,she was monstered by krishnan guru-murthy on c4 news.ouch!

Ted

So Ed Balls was doing something else - not turning to defend. Point still stands.

Water

He may say "We need to show it's the Conservatives who are the party of economic risk who are politically divided" but the Tories aren't divided...so it will be one hell of a task for Balls to show otherwise. As for him claiming that the Torys have no solution, well it would be plain daft to entertain the opposition and DC isn't going to do that.

adrian drummond

Well done Emily! Although I loath Balls and had hoped that James' hunch was true, the English in me (whatever that means) likes to see fair play...

Pete

Did anyone see Margaret Beckett on the BBC News channel (I think) just after 19:00hrs?
Blimey! What a dismal, dismal defence of a dismal leader. She seems totally unable to accept that nuLab lost for any reason other than that they failed to get their message across. She even had praise for 5-babs Dunwoody as an outstanding candidate!
If that's what nuLabour think then they've no chance of improving their lot.
(By the way, I did lay the Tories on Betfair at 1.07, 1,04 and 1.03. Lost my dosh but am glad that nuLab got splattered.)
Maybe deep dissatisfaction at the 11 years of nuLab mismanagement has finally got through to most voters. (In spite of a supine press, an ineffective opposition for most of that time and a pro-Labour BBC.)

Nicholas

"there were a lot of falsehoods being put about ahead of the by-election"

He got that right. Most of them were coming from New Labour though.

Water

drummond "as for what that means" hopefully its a sense of national identity coupled with a spirit of fairness that comes with it.

Also when Balls stated "These are difficult times, times when you need strong leadership, values and experience. Gordon Brown has the right values as a leader". Now (haha) you can't help but get the feeling that the only right values for his [Gordons] own interests and that of the labour party not that of the nations as the local elections showed.

Also Balls stated "I don't think it's right to campaign on the (abolition of the) 10p tax rate and then not come up with a solution" now this is just concerning when the Labour party looks to the right for the right solution.

Faceless Bureaucrat

"I think the times when governments fail are the times when they lose a reputation for economic confidence and divide politically and ideologically and as a result lose touch with the public." Yep, that would be it...

Water

Now if that's what he has to say in support of Gordon then you can't help but wonder.

Alf Tupper

Water.

Your first comment here gets it the wrong way round. Should be: "The infection seems to be smiling"

Pete

Labour seems to have lost its Mr Balls.

Oscar

As Iain Dale points out, Labour didn't even manage to field a Minister for tonight's Any Questions. Instead Dr. Tony Wright was pushed into the line of fire.

adrian drummond

Message to Water:

Yes, I think part of having an English identity - at least to me and those with a similar background and upbringing - is a desire to see fair play.

However, I no longer recognise this quality in many of my fellow countrymen who might also describe themselves as 'English'.

toryinsingapore

Horrible man, but he looks super hot in that photo!

Liz Brown

I assume that the Brownites ballspcoopers kellys and tcs are all coering in their bunkers in Tuscany
I heard Tony Wright on Any Qeustions and was amazed to hear him moan about the price of diesel, as he had just acquired a diesel run car in the mistaken belief that it would be cheaper. Is this tonyWirght not the same Tony Wright who has been in HoC for the last 11 years and is he not aware that it was his Chancellor of the Exchequer, now subprime minister, who raised the tax on diesel in one of his very first Budgets? How CAN these people be quite so stupid?

Frank Pulley

Alf

'The infection seems to be smiling'. Whooaahahahahah!

Marquee Mark

'He was last seen installing 100 lines ..."

Heh, heh, heh. Btw whilst on the subject of the Major 'bastards', did you see the previous 'lineman' on This Week when it was obvious that C & N was in the bag - bigtime. He could hardly contain his chagrin. I suppose it's the 'what might have been' syndrome; had he not been such a devious sod, he could have been in pole position now . He obviously despises 'call me Dave'. Probably unsuprising, as he's reduced himself to cuddling up to Diane on a TV sofa for another session of teasing by the eminence grise of the Speccy. Such is life! Bet he cries all the way to the bank.

Frank Pulley

Liz

Not related to our Great Leader, then?

Liz Brown

Frank
'fraid so.............the listening one

George King

What a revolting looking character he is.

George King

What a revolting looking character he is.

Lizzie

I think he's gorgeous

Kiffa

Well said Ben about your beloved children.
We need to say that a bit more.