#EdBallsDay: Politician’s social media gaffe celebrated eight years on


#EdBallsDay: Politician’s social media gaffe celebrated eight years on

Ed Balls.

Ed Balls (Danny Lawson/PA)
Ed Balls (Danny Lawson/PA)

Social media users are celebrating Ed Balls Day, marking the occasion when the former Labour politician tweeted his own name.

It stems from April 28 2011, when Balls, then the shadow chancellor, accidentally posted a tweet which simply read “Ed Balls”.

He had been intending to search the site for an article about him, but inputted his name in the wrong box and instead tweeted it.

It was retweeted by thousands of people and has never been deleted by Balls, who has embraced the joke in subsequent years, even going so far as to bake a cake depicting the tweet one year.

For many the day seems as exciting as it ever did.

It was enough to inspire poetry in some.

To many Balls is now as well known for his exploits on Strictly Come Dancing as for his political career, and many people referenced the show as they marked the day.

Others meanwhile found ways to mark the day in their own way.

As of Sunday afternoon, Balls was yet to mark the occasion himself.

Perhaps his most notable celebration came in 2016 when, spurred on by wife Yvette Cooper, he baked a cake of the tweet in question.



Press Association


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