You have to click on the loudspeaker symbol to unmute.
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His wife, Yvette Cooper is very impressive also.
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I think Ed Balls is a natural on TV. My wife and I enjoyed very much his series looking at right wing supporters in the US and later in Europe.
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I found those programmes interesting, and helped me understand why so many people voted for Trump. And he came across well.
Which is strange as I found him off putting as him a Minister, but not as much as his wife. Priti Patel is a novice compared to her.
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I agree - I think there is an appalling singular focus about politics which is very damaging. I think Alastair Campbell is an excellent example of how much damage politics can do to a human being. He has shown quite another side to his life as he’s opened up about his mental health issues (which doesn’t surprise me given the life he was leading).
I think Ed is showing that he is a much more well-rounded character than his political life would have led you to believe, plus a nice self-deprecation. Would that politicians could demonstrate that while in the House.
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I too warmed to him after watching him on Strictly, and the program about his family was nice.
Are you suggesting that DominicCummings might one day turn out to be a warm and engaging person with empathy to others and high moral standards?
And Portillo. Horrible politician, nice on trains.
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Who knows Jane? Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I for one would never have thought when he was Tony Blair’s righthand man that I could have anything but contempt for Alastair Campbell. No longer true.
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Gawd! So there’s hope for Trump 
Now that would be going too far!
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I look forward to seeing what history makes of Trump. I suspect it will not be all bad. But then maybe it will be no more than a view that like Mussolini: he made the trains run on time.
At the risk of being hounded off this forum, and digressing somewhat, I think, for example his decision to bring American troops home and making European countries pay their fair share of NATO is a good one (whatever his motive for so doing). I personally believe that a number of the problems in this world are directly due to the US believing it somehow has a moral right to be the world’s policeman.
Horrible or inept?
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Bringing back troops after 20 years was an attempt to get reelected, if trump had any intentions of reducing troops he would have done so at the start of the term.
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I heard a former NATO Sec General saying that getting European nations to pay more was one of the few things Trump did that was helpful. Obviously most of his actions regarding international defence cooperation were damaging.
Unfortunately dictators/despots attrocities outweigh any normality IMHO.
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Mussolini made the trains run on time, Hitler liked animals, Stalin had a good tenor voice - none of those outweigh their appallingness. (Franco/Salazar/PolPot : can’t think of anything)
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…and was a great painter - “entire apartment, 2 coats, in one afternoon”. Mel Brooks, qv
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Just imagine if he had actually been accepted at art school, things might have been very different.
Something, something, manifest destiny, something?