Tories ‘fear Balls the most’
By politics.co.uk staff
Ed Balls is the Labour front bencher most feared by members of the Conservative party, a survey has confirmed.
A survey of party members by website ConservativeHome found that Mr Balls was the considered by far the most impressive Labour figure by his opponents.
Some 26.3% of members said he was the most impressive Labour front bencher, followed by his wife, shadow foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, with 13.1%.
Shadow education secretary Andy Burnham, whose star has risen significantly since the Labour leadership race, came third with 10.6%.
Douglas Alexander, John Denham, Harriet Harman and Hilary Benn all fared well, but party leader Ed Miliband only came in eighth place, with just 4.1%.
Mr Balls was recently installed as shadow chancellor after Alan Johnson stepped down following revelations about his private life.
