Labour’s Ed Balls loses Morley and Outwood seat after recount

Labour’s shadow chancellor Ed Balls has lost his Morley and Outwood seat after a recount.

Mr Balls, who has a strong record of supporting LGBT rights, lost the seat after a recount, gaining 18,354 votes.

He lost the seat to Tory Andrea Jenkyns by 422 votes.

In a speech on the announcement, Mr Balls congratulated the Tories, and his opponent Andrea Jenkins, who won the seat.

Mr Balls released a video in support of the Out4Marriage campaign in May 2012.

The MP said he was inspired to support marriage equality by his late uncle, who came out as gay in his fifties.

Mr Balls’ wife, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, also released a video for the Out4Marriage campaign in the same year. She regained her Pontefract and Castleford.

At the PinkNews Awards last year, Mr Balls spoke of the urgent need to “normalise” imagery of LGBT people in mainstream advertising, saying inclusive campaigns are “very important” to show that Britain is accepting and diverse.

Mr Balls made the remarks as he presented the award for Marketing Campaign of the Year at the second annual PinkNews Awards, which was hosted on Wednesday  29 October 2014 by the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow in Parliament.

• Nov 29 2023

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