Norwich City chairman Ed Balls hints he might move back into politics

Ed Balls has opened the door to a political comeback saying he would 'never say never' to a return to Westminster.

The Norwich City chairman, who lost his seat in the 2015 General Election, has been making his name on the dance floor rather than the Houses of Parliament recently but he is not ruling out a move back into politics.

However whilst appearing on Peston On Sunday he ruled himself out of the running for the safe Labour seat of Manchester Gorton in a forthcoming by-election.

'I'm not standing in a by-election,' he said. 'I'm never going to say never about going back because I think politics is so uncertain.

'The issue is can Labour have a credible, radical, patriotic alternative to the Conservatives, that's what we need. I'm not going to say never but at the moment that's not my plan and there is a Labour leader and a Labour party in parliament, in the country and they have got to get on and deliver it.

'The country needs a strong opposition, we haven't got that at the moment and things need to get better.'

The 50-year-old was repeatedly saved by the public vote during his time on Strictly Come Dancing and many people have suggested that he could be tempted to test that popularity by entering politics again.

Bur Mr Balls said his appearance on the hit BBC show is the exact reason why his name should stay out of the ballot boxes.

'If I was trying to stand in Manchester Gorton, I might not have spent December being a Zoolander male model, or November doing the cha-cha as a mad scientist,' he said.

Other than continuing his role at Norwich City, Mr Balls said he will be spending the next few months writing a Strictly Come Dancing chapter for his book and lecturing at Harvard University.

He was in attendance at Hillsborough on Saturday to watch the Canaries 5-1 thumping at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday and before the match he was pictured at the Walkley Cottage pub in Sheffield alongside Delia Smith.