Gordon Brown wants Ed Balls as Chancellor!
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GORDON BROWN is ready to promote Ed Balls, his closest political ally, to chancellor this week in a high-stakes gamble to restore Labour's political fortunes.
According to a top-level leak from Downing Street, the prime minister wants to make the appointment the centrepiece of a sweeping reshuffle on Friday, after the local and European polls.
With Balls, the schools secretary, one of the most divisive figures in
government, the move would be a huge risk, which could trigger a ferocious
backlash within the Labour party that could spiral into a leadership
challenge.
According to the well-placed insider, Brown has been working on the scheme to make Balls chancellor since the expenses debacle engulfed Westminster, taking a handful of his closest aides into his confidence.
Brown knows the appointment would be highly controversial and is ruminating over the possible consequences. However, Balls's elevation would fit into a wider strategy to position Labour for the next general election, which rests on hopes of an upturn in Britain's economic fortunes just before polling day.
Balls, who is widely respected in the City, could appear a younger, fresher face than Alistair Darling to take on George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, in the run-up to the elections.
Even better the Labour woes could put an end to this Academy plan if the defeat on Thursday is anywhere near as bad as they think it is going to be. There could well be a leadership challenge and if there was electioneering would begin almost immediately. As it is MP's are terrified so it will not take much to tip them over the edge and race to the polls.
Either way Ed Balls WILL NOT BE SIGNING FUNDING DOCUMENTS!
A poll this weekend puts Labour on 21%, its lowest rating in polling history. It raises the possibility that the party could come third in the European elections for the first time, behind the Tories and UKIP.
Such a disastrous performance would fuel the prospect of a leadership challenge, with Alan Johnson, one of the few potential contenders undamaged by the expenses furore, considered Brown's most likely successor.
In the past few days, Johnson, the health secretary, and James Purnell, the work and pensions secretary, another possible candidate, have set out in newspaper articles their vision for restoring trust in politics, fuelling speculation.
This week, David Miliband, the foreign secretary and one-time favourite to oust Brown, will outline his ideas in a speech to the Fabian Society.
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