Ed Balls accuses Jeremy Corbyn of peddling a 'leftist utopian fantasy'

Ed Balls - photo credit: Anthony Devlin/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Ed Balls has weighed into the Labour leadership contest by accusing Jeremy Corbyn of peddling a 'leftist utopian fantasy' which is out of touch with the views of most ordinary voters.

The former Shadow Chancellor - who lost his seat at the last election - said "refusing to listen to the electorate has never been a winning formula".

Balls made the remarks in his autobiography, 'Speaking Out', which is being serialised in The Times.

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Corbyn's supporters have pointed to the huge crowds which attend Corbyn's rallies as proof that he has widespread support across the country.

But Balls says: “Refusing to listen to the electorate has never been a winning formula, any more than Jeremy Corbyn thinking the volume of the cheering from your core supporters is a reliable guide to wider public opinion.

“Caution will not win the day; but nor will Jeremy Corbyn’s leftist utopian fantasy, devoid of connection to the reality of people’s lives.”

​Balls - currently preparing to appear on Strictly Come Dancing - also lifts the lid of his strained relationship with former Labour leader Ed Miliband.

He says Miliband ignored his advice on how to address voters' concerns in areas like the EU and immigration.

"Having kept me at a distance in the run-up to the election in 2015, I think we probably only spoke twice in the whole four-week election campaign," he says. "That was astonishingly dysfunctional when I compare it to how Tony [Blair] and Gordon [Brown] worked.”