Ed Balls Loses Seat in Labour Bloodbath

Ed Balls, the man who would have been Chancellor of the Exchequer had Labour won the election, has lost his seat to the Conservatives.

The Shadow Chancellor has been one of the most significant figures in the Labour Party over the past five years, often being seen as second-in-command to party leader Ed Miliband. His defeat will hasten calls for Miliband’s resignation.

Speaking after the result, Mr Balls spoke of his sadness at his own result and at Labour’s result across the UK.

He joins Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander and Scottish Labour Leader Jim Murphy as high profile Labour casualties in what has been an incredibly bruising election result for the party.

Mr Balls was defeated by Conservative candidate Andrea Jenkyns who won the seat with a 422-vote majority.

The full result for the Morley and Outwood seat was:

Andrea Jenkyns (Con) – 18,776 (38.9%)

Ed Balls (Lab) – 18,354 (38.0%)

David Dews (UKIP) – 7,951 (16.5%)

Rebecca Taylor (Lib Dem) – 1,426 (3.0%)

Martin Hemingway (Green) – 1,264 (2.6%)

Arnie Craven (Yorkshire First) – 479 (1.0%)