Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls visited Ipswich on Friday on his way to watch his beloved Norwich City in a crunch league match against Middlesbrough at Carrow Road.

He visited managers and staff at Axa Insurance on Civic Drive – becoming the second senior politician to visit the company during the campaign after Liz Truss – and then met party supporters at a coffee shop on St Peter’s Street.

He told the supporters that the election campaign was the tightest he had known – and admitted he could not be sure of a Labour victory at this stage.

And he also spoke about the need to invest in new jobs – and to offer all school-leavers an apprenticeship.

Mr Balls said: “Our manifesto has been fully-costed and we are getting the message out there that we have a firm economic plan for the country.

“While we have put down how we will pay for our plans, David Cameron says he will not raise VAT and will protect the NHS but has made commitments to spend a further £25 billion.”

And he was delighted about how the campaign was going: “I’m really pleased with how we are getting our message out there, and the Tories are all over the place.”