Ed Balls Keynote Speaker

Economist, Writer and Broadcaster
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (2011-2015)
Professor of Political Economy at King’s College, London / Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School

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Ed Balls's Biography

Ed Balls is an economist, writer and broadcaster. He is Professor of Political Economy at King’s College, London, a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and co-Chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation. He has also served as a consultant for the International Monetary Fund.

Ed was a Member of the UK Parliament, was UK Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (2011-2015) and served in the UK Cabinet as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (2007-2010). He was the UK Minister for Financial Services (2006-2007) and the Chief Economic Adviser to the UK Treasury (1999-2004) during which time he was Chair of the IMFC Deputies and UK G20 Deputy. While Shadow Chancellor he was co-Chair with Larry Summers of the Center for American Progress Inclusive Prosperity Commission.

Ed’s BBC series, ‘Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls’ was broadcast in November 2021. He previously presented the BBC TV series ‘Travels in Trumpland: with Ed Balls’ which was broadcast in July 2018 and a second series ‘Travels in Euroland with Ed Balls’ aired on BBC 2 in January 2020. Ed has also presented the BBC TV series ‘What Britain Buys And Sells In A Day’ with Ade Adepitan and Cherry Healey which broadcast in October 2019. Ed was part of the core ITN Election night team in 2017 and 2019, broadcasts regularly on BBC’s The One Show, Radio 2 and Radio 4 and is a Guest Presenter on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

His interests include learning the piano, running, cooking, sailing and supporting Norwich City, where he is a Vice-President and former Club Chairman. Ed was the inaugural winner of the BBC’s Celebrity Best Home Cook in February 2021. He was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing 2016 and was nominated for a Bafta for TV moment of the year in 2016 and as part of the ITN General Election team in 2017 and 2019. In February 2019, Ed climbed Kilimanjaro with eight other well-known climbers, raising over £2m for Comic Relief

Ed’s new book, ‘Appetite: a Memoir in Recipes of Family and Food’ was published by Simon & Schuster in August 2021 and is a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller. His previous book ‘Speaking Out: Lessons in Life and Politics’ was published by Penguin Random House in 2016 and was also ranked a Top Ten bestseller.