Ed Balls departure from Strictly met with calls for him to return to politics

'Ed Balls for PM 2020'

After swapping suits for sequins, Ed Balls is now facing calls for a return to politics after being eliminated from Strictly.

The former Shadow Chancellor has left viewers devastated after being the most recent contestant to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night after a solid run of entertaining dances which were a far cry from his days arguing in the House of Commons.

The technical dance ability he lacked was made up in the form of personality and passion and viewers rallied to keep the former Labour MP in the competition week after week often at the expense of better dancers.

After his exit, Balls fans have begun to call for him to return to politics while journalists and politicians have pondered whether a comeback might be on the cards.

Balls lost his seat in Morley and Outwood by 422 votes to the Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns during the 2015 General Election which saw the Tory party elected by a majority. It ended the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government and the political careers of several high-profile Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs partially thanks to the Scottish National Party gaining unprecedented momentum in Scotland.

Even Conservative MPs are acutely aware of Balls' rise in popularity if the following tweet from the North East Bedfordshire MP Alistair Burt is anything to go by:

Balls’ run on Strictly has seen politicians from all sides of the spectrum unite in their support for him with former Prime Minister David Cameron congratulating him last night and his former nemesis George Osborne sending messages of support throughout the series.

His wife Yvette Cooper MP, who was defeated by Jeremy Corbyn in last year’s Labour leadership contest, has been spotted laughing in the audience and supporting her husband throughout the series.