Ed Balls hints at possible Labour-Lib Dem coalition after 'friendly chat' with Nick Clegg

Ed Balls has hinted at a possible coalition with the Lib Dems (PA; Getty Images)

Ed Balls has hinted at a possible coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats after having a “friendly chat” with Nick Clegg.

The shadow chancellor did not rule out entering a coalition with the party after next year’s election in an interview with the New Statesman.

He added: “I think what you always have to do is deal with politics as you find it.”

Mr Balls said he’d had a “nice chat” with the Deputy Prime Minister and that he understood his decision to form a government with the Conservatives in 2010, despite previously saying that any co-operation between Labour and the Liberal Democrats was conditional on Mr Clegg’s removal.

He told the New Statesman: “I may disagree with some of the things he has supported but I have no reason to say anything nasty about him as a person.”

The two chatted on Twitter yesterday, when Mr Clegg tweeted “Ed Balls” hours after the interview was published, in a reference to the Labour politician’s accidental tweet of his own name in 2011 that went viral.

Nick Clegg tweeted 'Ed Balls' hours after the interview was published

Mr Balls swiftly replied: “I agree with Nick” – harking back to the “Clegg-mania” leading up to the last general election.

Many people speculated that the tweet from Mr Clegg’s account was a joke by a hacker but his party’s press office confirmed it was genuine.