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8 May 2015updated 25 Jul 2021 6:37am

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls loses his seat in Labour’s biggest casualty of the election

Tories take Morley & Outwood, in Labour's most shocking defeat.

By Anoosh Chakelian

(Photo By Ed Balls loses his seat. Photo: Getty)

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.

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.

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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.”