Defeat of Ed Balls gives Tories their 'Portillo moment'

Shadow chancellor losing his seat echoes Michael Portillo's humbling defeat in 1997, but should not come as a shock despite being a profound blow to Labour

The Conservatives have waited almost 20 years for their own "Portillo moment". With Ed Balls's defeat in his Morley and Outwood seat, they got it.

Plenty of Westminster big beasts lost their seats in the 2015 election: Vince Cable, David Laws, the two Alexanders - Douglas and Danny. But the scalp of the man who was Gordon Brown's closest adviser and who would have been chancellor in an Ed Miliband government was the biggest of the lot.