Balls tops list of gay equality voting ahead of Labour leadership election
May 18th, 2010 by Chloe.Setter
Former education secretary Ed Balls has come out top for his gay voting record ahead of a Labour Party leadership election vote.
Balls scored 93% on an analysis of 14 key votes on gay equality in the House of Commons between 2001 and 2010.
Other potential candidates for the leadership David and Ed Miliband scored 86%, while former health secretary Andy Burnham came fourth, scoring only 71%.
The result of the Labour leadership election is set to be announced at the party’s annual conference in September, according to party officials.
So far, of the four favourite candidates – Dave and Ed Miliband, Ed Balls and Andy Burnham – the Miliband brothers are the only two to have officially declared themselves in the race.
Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, which published the voting records today, said: “We hope everyone involved in choosing the next Labour leader will carefully examine the track records of each candidate on equality.
“How people have voted in the past is an important indicator of whether they can be trusted to take equality for everyone in Britain seriously in the future.”
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