SHE'S a Beverley-born music tutor, mugging up on economics through the Open University, and he's the Oxford-educated Shadow Chancellor.
But it will be Andrea Jenkyns, the daughter of a former Hull lorry driver, who is aiming for victory when she takes on Labour's Ed Balls at the 2015 General Election.
Tory councillor Miss Jenkyns, 38, has been selected to challenge Mr Balls in one of the country's most marginal seats – Morley and Outwood, in West Yorkshire.
Miss Jenkyns, whose late father Clifford had his own transport business in Hull, is hoping to capture the key seat from Mr Balls after the Conservatives made his constituency one of their top targets.
She is undaunted by the big-name Labour MP's credentials, which include an Oxford and Harvard education and top cabinet roles, such as former Shadow Home Secretary and ex-Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families.
Miss Jenkyns, who is a Lincolnshire county councillor, said: "The seat is one of the most high-profile marginals and one of the target seats – I am going all-out to win.
"We are such different characters. But I am not focusing on him, I am taking him out of the equation and getting to know the people and issues in the constituency – if you focus too much on the opposition, you lose sight of why you are there."
Educated at the former Marton Primary School in Holderness, she moved out of the area for a number of years before returning to live in Hornsea and Driffield in her twenties.
Miss Jenkyns, who had a stint running the All Sports store in Hull's Princes Quay shopping centre, said: "I never got a degree. I did a BTec in business finance and worked in retail, quickly working my way up to manager. I spent 12 years in retail management.
"I'm still a music teacher, I used to teach in three schools in Lincolnshire but I teach privately now.
"I'm also a singer-songwriter and have my own studio.
"I am a soprano singer but I sing everything from Queen to Abba to Nessan Dorma."
Miss Jenkyns is unfazed by Ed Balls' CV, which includes a first-class degree in philosophy, politics and economics at Keble College Oxford.
She said: "I never went to university but I am studying for a diploma in economics through the Open University, I've done it to get a basic grasp of economics.
"If you are getting into politics, you have to have a basic grip of it but I will be fighting more on the policy side of things."
Miss Jenkyns only became involved in politics six years ago.
Having won an historically safe seat Labour seat on the county council, she aims to repeat the feat at the next General Election.
She said: "I am from a working class background and I know the difficulties of having to juggle a number of jobs and commitments to make ends meet.
"I have also always liked sorting people's problems out. I have a background in management so I have that experience."
