In the most shocking defeat for Labour this election, Ed Balls has lost his seat.
The shadow chancellor, and prominent Labour figure, lost Morley & Outwood to the Tory candidate, Andrea Jenkyns, with a result of 18,354 votes to 18, 776.
It wasn’t expected to be a tight race, but the close results were revealed when a recount was requested on Friday morning.
It was clearly Ukip votes that killed off Balls’s win. Ukip came third with 7,951 votes.
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Balls, in a sombre speech, congratulated his “political opponents” in Westminster and praised Jenkyns on her campaign. He said “any personal disappointment I have is as nothing compared to the sorrow I have” for the Labour party’s national result.
He spoke of a “sense of concern I have about the future”, adding: “We will now face a five years where questions will arise about our future of the Union.”
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