Ed Balls steps up his bid for the shadow chancellorship

With the result but a day away, there’s plenty of radio chatter about the Labour leadership election this morning. The Guardian reports that MiliD will work for MiliE if he loses. The FT observes Harriet Harman shifting towards the Eds’ position on the deficit, even if she is remaining neutral in the contest itself. A Populus poll for the Times (£) suggests that Gordon Brown is currently more popular among Labour supporters than either of the Milibands (which is deeply amusing). And Political Betting is calling it for Ed Miliband.

But perhaps the most noteworthy contributions come courtesy of Ed Balls, compiled and skilfully analysed by Sunder Katwala over at Next Left. In an interview with the Telegraph, Balls reveals that he hasn’t cast a second preference vote:

“His ballot paper carries no second preference: ‘I’m going to support whoever wins'”

And the Guardian adds:

“Balls, the shadow children’s secretary and a strong contender for the shadow chancellorship, insisted that his call to slow the Labour deficit programme ‘does not put me in a different place to either David or Ed Miliband’.