Chancellor's key aide plans to quit

THE Chancellor is set to lose his most important aide after delivering the Budget next Wednesday. Ed Balls, Gordon Brown's chief economics adviser, is planning to quit to stand for Parliament.

The loss of Balls, 37, is only a temporary blow to Brown because he is widely expected to groom him as his successor.

Balls is certain to be fast-tracked for promotion to the Cabinet, especially if Brown takes over as Prime Minister during a third term for Labour.

Balls, an Oxford and Harvard-trained economist, was a leader writer at the Financial Times before going to work for Brown in opposition.

He played a crucial role in a string of highly successful policies, including independence for the Bank of England and the windfall tax on banks.

He also penned the then Shadow Chancellor's famous speech discussing 'neo-classical endogenous growth theory' - prompting Michael Heseltine to joke: 'It wasn't Brown's, it was Balls.'

Balls is tipped for Normanton, the Labour stronghold whose MP, Bill O'Brien, 75, is retiring. It neighbours Pontefract and Castleford where Balls' wife - Urban Regeneration Minister Yvette Cooper - is the MP.