When did Brown give up on the idea of Chancellor Balls?

Proverbial tumbleweeds are blowing through Westminster at the moment, as everyone waits for the European election results tonight.  We’ll have full coverage on Coffee House later, of course.  But, if you’re stuck for something to read in the meantime, I’d recommend Andrew Rawnsley’s piece in the Observer.  Rawnsley sets out a host of reasons why the Cabinet are wary of moving against Brown, but it’s this snippet about the reshuffle which jumped out at me:

“Early on Thursday evening, Mr Brown attempted to bully Mr Darling into leaving the Treasury. Then and again on Friday morning, Alistair Darling pushed back and the prime minister was finally forced to abandon the idea of installing Ed Balls at Number 11.”