Ed's on tour in search of votes

Former Yorkshire MP Ed Balls is back on the vote campaign but this time in the live Strictly tour. Graham Walker meets him
Ed Balls has been rehearsing his Gangnam Style routine.Ed Balls has been rehearsing his Gangnam Style routine.
Ed Balls has been rehearsing his Gangnam Style routine.

There can be few people more surprised at his success in Strictly Come Dancing than former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls.

“I definitely surprised myself, I thought I might last one or two weeks. I never thought I would get all the way to Blackpool and beyond.,” says Ed of his transformation from politician to reality TV dance star:

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“I’ve got some rhythm and some musicality and Katya my partner is a brilliant choreographer.

Ed Balls has been rehearsing his Gangnam Style routine.Ed Balls has been rehearsing his Gangnam Style routine.
Ed Balls has been rehearsing his Gangnam Style routine.

“I think what we managed to do was get the dance in there but also to make people smile - some good entertainment and comedy value, whether that was Laurel and Hardy, The Mask or Gangnam

“It’s a special thing in life to make people smile. I’ve never really had that before.”

For ten years he served as Labour MP for Morely and Outwood and was shadow chancellor from 2011 to 2015 when he lost his seat.

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But he is back on the vote winning campaign trail in his beloved Yorkshire when he appears tin the Strictly Come Dancing The Live Tour at Leeds First Direct Arena.

The television series spin-off, of the professionally partnered celebrity dance extravaganza, is celebrating its tenth anniversary on a nation-wide tour and plays Leeds tomorrow and Friday, February 2 and 3. The audience get to vote by text every night to award one couple the prized Glitter Ball.

Ed says he is going all out for the local vote on home ground where he believes he might even win.

The 49-year-old said he has only lived in Castleford for 20-years which still makes him a newcomer but with professional dance partner Katya Jones he is hoping to even win over local Tory voters with their fun routines.

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That almost certainly means a repeat of their TV series highlight, the much talked about Gangnam Style dance routine, complete with hilarious ‘Pony Jump’ move, which showed another side to Ed and helped him to win over the nation.

The self-confessed ‘Dad dancer’ hopes performing the same moves night after night on tour around the country could lead to a perfect ‘10 from Len’, retiring senior Strictly judge Len Goodman.

Craig Revel Horwood, judge and the live tour director, says miracles do happen and Ed might be right, especially in his adopted home town.

And for Ed Balls the two Leeds Arena performances will have a special resonance.

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“Can you believe it? Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney are probably complacent about playing to packed arenas but I’ve never done it before and I’m looking forward to it,” says the dad of three.

“I remember sitting with the council when they were planning the Arena. I never thought I would be dancing in it!

“It’s going to be special going everywhere around the country but for me, in particular, to come back to Yorkshire and particularly Leeds is very special.

“I will be just a mile from my old constituency. I’ve got friends coming from Castleford. My old campaign team will be coming up from Morley, so it’s going to be quite an emotional evening for me.

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“What I learned, last autumn is, whether you are Labour or Conservative, or you support Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds or Man U, whether you are north or south, you can all enjoy Strictly Come Dancing and you can all vote for me.

“Enough people voted for me on TV to get me through each week and lets hope in Leeds they will come out and give me a few votes.”

“We will do two of our numbers and there are group dances as well. People will then vote at the end, who they think they want to win for that show night.

Ed Balls and Katya Jones during a photocall for the launch of Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour held at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday January 19, 2017. Photo credit should read: Joe Giddens/PA WireEd Balls and Katya Jones during a photocall for the launch of Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour held at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday January 19, 2017. Photo credit should read: Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Ed Balls and Katya Jones during a photocall for the launch of Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour held at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday January 19, 2017. Photo credit should read: Joe Giddens/PA Wire

“I am 99.5 per cent certain we will be doing Gangnam...because everyone enjoyed that and we love doing it. Can you imagine what it will be like in Leeds, that moment when we do that ‘Pony Jump’? I can’t wait for that.”

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Ed also revealed how his Labour MP wife Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Home Affairs Select committee, and represents Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, might end up follow in his dancing foot steps and take to the Strictly floor in the next 10 years.

“It’s not impossible. You can’t really be chair of the Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee and do Strictly Come Dancing,” he says.

“If I had to predict I would think that Yvette might be thinking in the next 10 or 15-years, maybe she’ll have a go.

“I couldn’t keep her away from the TV shows in the autumn, she loved it and she is coming to the Leeds Arena, to one of our shows.

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“Yvette and I had always done a bit of dancing late at night at conferences and at parties but it turns out it wasn’t really proper dancing. Dad dancing - I sort of used to move everything and hoped that something would be in time, whereas the discipline of doing it was tough.”

Judge Craig says he won’t be going easy on any of the dancers and what you see from him on TV is no act. But he reckons miracles do happen and he could give Ed a perfect 10.

“He will be doing the routines 40 times more. He’ll get better and better. Miracles have occurred before on this show. People should come if they want to see how much sparkle there really is - when you see all the costumes in real life it is arresting. It’s just so beautiful.”