London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2025

Blair and former PMs should not act as political ‘figureheads’, says Ed Balls

Blair and former PMs should not act as political ‘figureheads’, says Ed Balls

Ex-Labour minister tells Hay festival that the involvement of former leaders in the ‘next phase of politics’ may not be sensible
Ed Balls has said former prime ministers such as Tony Blair and David Cameron should not attempt to return as “figureheads for the next phase of politics”.

The former cabinet minister’s comments addressed Blair’s upcoming Future of Britain conference, which is seen as an attempt to reinvigorate centrist politics in the UK by taking inspiration from the success of La République En Marche, the recently created centre-left party that brought Emmanuel Macron to power in France.

Balls warned that the rise of polarised parties that were reluctant to work together made these “dangerous times for politics”, adding that the UK and France were “not in a politically healthy place”, while the US was “deeply divided as well”.

He told an audience at Hay festival: “I’m not sure whether it’s sensible to have people like Gordon Brown or Tony Blair, or David Cameron, Theresa May attempting to be figureheads for the next phase of politics … it may make things harder.”

Blair told the New Statesman in March that he wanted to advise the next Labour government. Earlier this month, his Tony Blair Institute thinktank produced a report recommending that Labour recapture the centre by rejecting “woke” politics and focusing on the economy.

Balls said he personally would not return to politics. “I think you have to be really careful in life not to go back and try to remake the past. I’m not sure whether going back would be wise for me or wise for anybody else.”

Although he acknowledged that the Tony Blair Institute, which is organising the conference, had “done lots of great policy work”, he questioned whether Macron was the right leader to emulate. “You have to be slightly careful about the Macron comparison. Was he a socialist or was he fundamentally an anti-politics outsider?”

He likened Macron’s decision to set up a party outside France’s political mainstream to a broader trend towards “people who were rebelling against the mainstream party, the established order, the outside trying to rip things up”, exemplified by the former US president Donald Trump, the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the impact of Brexit on the Conservative party.

“[Macron has] won again but where that will leave French politics at the end of his time, who knows,” he said.

Balls said his main takeaway from his political career was that while “debate and disagreement” could be constructive, ultimately the policies that “end up lasting are the things that become consensual, agreed across parties”, citing the NHS and the national minimum wage. “I don’t think we’ve had that for a long time.”

He added: “At the moment we’re in a phase of politics where, partly because parties are in such crisis internally, people get strength and traction from hating the other side and always disagreeing. If I’m honest, Macron was a little bit one of those as well.”

One pressing area where politicians needed to seek cross-party consensus was around a shared vision for the UK’s post-Brexit future, Balls said. He suggested Labour’s circumspection was an attempt to distance itself from the ill-fated campaign for a second referendum, but that the party could push for a “more progressive, internationalist” vision, and should challenge “ridiculous” policy ideas such as returning to imperial measurements.

He noted that the word “politician” had become a shorthand among the public for people who obfuscate and lie, and asked: “If politics becomes a discredited way to be, where does that leave democracy?”

He suggested politicians could change this by being “more open about talking about their lives, their ambitions, their mistakes”.

His final comments elicited titters from the audience: “Having the confidence to say we made a mistake, this is why it happened, we won’t make it again because we’re going to make the following changes, that would be a much better way to do politics … if you look in the last few months, we haven’t had much of that.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×