Whats up with Ed Balls?

Strange things were afoot at the Local Government Chronicle awards held on the Wednesday at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

I spotted Ed Balls (in a suit rather than black tie), glass of champagne in hand early in the evening and assumed he was one of the guest speakers. However just minutes later when I was leaving the bar he rushed into the front reception area, bag carrier in tow looking extremely agitated and a few minutes later he was pacing up and down looking for a taxi. Looking like he was about to have a heart attack, I watched transfixed as he duly flagged one down and left before the dinner proper started. I wonder why? It was budget day and it had gone relatively smoothly if not well for Labour so it was unlikely that the whips were summoning him back to the Commons.

He probably was having to calm Gordon down about something back at the bunker or maybe it was that New Statesman article saying Mr Balls could be heading for a Portillo moment...