New Tory chairman Richard Holden was roasted by Ed Balls at the start of his first full day in the job.
The former Labour bruiser accused him of failing to answer a succession of questions about Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle.
Holden was promoted from minister for buses to be put in charge of running Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) as part of the shake-up, which also saw Suella Braverman sacked and the shock return of David Cameron.
On ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Balls told him: “You’ve been on this interview for seven minutes and you’ve not answered a single question.
“You’re reading out a script of the greatest hits of the Tory party for the last 15 years”
Holden hit back: “I’m not reading anything out. I’m not the one with the script.”
Keen to get a clear answer on whether or not the reshuffle signified a shift in Sunak’s approach since the Tory conference ast month, Balls said: “Is it a U-Turn from his conference speech? Yes or no?”
“George Osborne said yesterday that it is a u-turn,” he added.
A clearly-agitated Holden said: “Are you going to let me finish answering the question or not?”
But Balls told him: “You’ve not answered a single question yet.
“We are desperate for you to answer a question. You just go on and on and on and don’t answer anything!”
Holden replied: “I am answering your questions. It’s because you won’t let me speak.
“I was saying that we need to get away from some of those short term policies. What I’m really worried about is what we inherited in 2010. That deficit the government left us with. We are going to see the same situation again.”
Balls hit back: “What question are you answering at the moment?”
Holden replied: “I’m answering why over the last 13 years, what important decisions the country has made”
But GMB co-host Susanna Reid said: “That’s not a question that Ed asked you.”
Concluding the interview, Balls said: “I think your strategy, Mr Holden, is to try and answer every question that could ever be asked ever in the hope that one of them might be the one we ask.”