Ed Balls

Ed Balls was elected Labour and Co-operative MP for the Normanton constituency on 5 May 2005. He was appointed Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in June 2007 and was previously Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

An active member of the TGWU, Unison and the Co-operative Party, before his election to Parliament he was proud to be in public service as Economic Adviser to Gordon Brown MP and Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury. He has worked hard - nationally and locally - to make our economy stronger and fairer.

At the Treasury his job was to advise on government economic policy including Bank of England independence, the Windfall tax, the New Deal for jobs and the Winter Fuel Allowance. He is now using that expertise as a member of the Northern Way and Wakefield Way economic taskforces.

Ed is determined to fight to win more skilled jobs for our district. He wants to see more police on the beat and a fair deal for pensioners. Living locally, a dad with three kids, he knows we need more high-quality childcare which local families can afford.

Ed comes from a Labour family. It was the welfare state, created by a Labour government in 1945, which enabled his father - from a widowed family in a working class community - to get a scholarship to University. He is married to Yvette Cooper, the MP for Pontefract and Castleford. They have three children – Ellie, Joe and Maddy - and live in Castleford.