Ed Balls

Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth

Gyles Brandreth / Plain Jaine Media

Society & Culture, Unknown

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Gyles really enjoyed meeting this week's guest, Ed Balls, because he enjoyed bonding over their shared experience of Westminster. And the political gossip and insight in this chat is fascinating - from a very funny behind-the-scenes account of the famous dinner at Granita in Islington at which Tony Blair and Gordon Brown thrashed out their leadership in 1997; to a description of what it's like to lose a seat as an MP (like being at your own funeral, apparently). But there's much more than politics, here. This is also the fascinating story of Ed himself, his humble Norfolk beginnings, his academic success, his early journalistic career, his marriage to fellow Labour Party high-flier, Yvette Cooper, and why it's best to lean in to a mid-life crisis. We hope you enjoy this week's brilliant edition, and thank you very much to Ed for your time, warmth and fabulous company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello again, I'm Giles Brandreuth. The month is March, the da, former politician and strictly sensation, Ed Balls.
0:37.2	What a man. What a name.
0:39.1	I was fascinated to meet Ed because we do have something in common.
0:42.8	Politics.
0:43.9	I know how tough it can be to leave Westminster behind because I lost my seat in 1992, just as Ed did
0:53.2	a few years later in 2015. And I wanted to find out from Ed
0:57.3	whether he had any regret about never becoming Chancellor of the Extrecker. Some people think he was,
1:04.8	maybe in his fantasy world he was, and whether he's at all wistful about no longer being in government.
1:11.6	His wife is the Home Secretary.
1:13.6	Anyway, let's see.
1:14.6	But in this chat, actually, we found out so much more about Ed,
1:18.6	because it's his working-class roots in Norfolk, his interest in food,
1:23.6	which started when he was only three weeks old,
1:26.6	and what really went down at that
1:29.1	famous Grenita dinner with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in 1997.
1:34.6	If you don't remember Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, don't worry, we are going to have special
1:40.0	episodes of Rosebud devoted to them when they're available if their carers will allow them to take
1:46.4	part. This, though, is Rosebud today with Ed Balls. begin with the same question, and it's simply, what is your very first memory?
2:12.0	I think my very first memory is being in my grandmother's house in Norwich.
2:19.3	It was a two up, two downhouse, Hill Street, right at the centre of the city.
2:24.3	There was a front room which nobody ever went in. We only sat in the back room.
2:27.3	It was the house in which my dad had also grown up.
	...

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