He was marked by his loyalty to party and near silence in the House of Commons where he waited eight years after being elected before making his maiden and only speech.
[4] It was his prominence in the railway union which led to his selection as Labour candidate for West Stirlingshire at the 1945 general election.
[8] In a free vote in December 1947 he supported a motion to cut the proposed additional allowance paid to Princess Elizabeth after her marriage.
On 14 July 1953, Balfour finally broke eight years' silence in the chamber to make his maiden speech in a debate on industry in Scotland.
In May 1954 he asked a written question about the cost of refurbishing the flat of the Secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain on the Parliamentary Estate.
When party leader Hugh Gaitskell called on Labour members to withdraw their names, Balfour complied.