David Blunkett

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David Blunkett
David Blunkett

The Right Honourable David Blunkett (born June 6, 1947) is a British Labour Party politician and has been Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside since 1987. Blind since birth, and from a poor family, he has still been able to rise through the ranks to become first Education Secretary from 1997 to 2001, and then Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004, when he resigned after a scandal. Following the 2005 General Election he was appointed to the position of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, but was again forced to resign on November 2, 2005 after a series of reports about his external business interests during his brief time outside the cabinet.

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Early life

Born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, he grew up in poverty after his father was killed following an industrial accident when Blunkett was twelve years old. (The elder Blunkett, a foreman, fell into a vat of boiling water on the job at the East Midlands Gas Board and died a month later. The company refused to pay compensation for two years because he was working past retirement age.) Blind since birth, and educated at schools for the blind in Sheffield and Shrewsbury, Blunkett chances in life seemed limited. Following his father's death, he was sent on assessment to the School for the Blind in Worcester, West Midlands - where he failed to gain entry. His failed assessment is said to be partly deliberate, due to his rebellious nature and dislike of public schools. However, he later attended the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford. Indeed, he was apparently told at school that one of his few options in life was to become a lathe operator. Nevertheless, he won a place at the University of Sheffield, where one of his lecturers was Bernard Crick, and went on to enter local politics immediately on graduation. He worked as a clerk typist between 1967 and 1969, and as a lecturer and tutor in industrial relations and politics between 1973 and 1981.

Rise in politics

Blunkett became the youngest-ever councillor on Sheffield City Council being elected in 1970 at the age of 22, whilst pursuing a career as a teacher. He served on Sheffield City Council from 1970 to 1988, being Leader of the Council from 1980 to 1987, and on South Yorkshire County Council from 1973 to 1977. He became well-known as a figure on the soft left of the party whilst serving for seven years as the council's leader during the 1980s, and was elected to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee.

At the 1987 general election he was elected MP for Sheffield Brightside. He became a party spokesman on local government, joined the shadow cabinet in 1992 as Shadow Health Secretary, and became Shadow Education Secretary in 1994. Combining reforming zeal with social conservatism, he became a favourite of new party leader Tony Blair.

Mr. Blunkett's electoral history is as follows:

Election 1987 (David Blunkett first elected)
  • Labour 31,208 (70%)
  • Conservatives 7,222(16%)
  • Liberal / SDP Alliance 6,434 (14%)
  • Turnout: 69%
Election 1992 (Joins the Shadow Cabinet)
  • Labour 29,771 (70% Unchanged)
  • Conservatives 7,090 (17% +1%)
  • Liberal Democrats 5,273 (12% -2%)
  • International Communist 150 (0%)*
  • Labour hold with a majority of 22,681 (53%) on a swing from Lab to Con of 0.5%
  • Turnout: 66% (-3%)

As Education Secretary

After Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 general election, he became the UK's first blind cabinet minister as Secretary of State for Education and Employment. The role of Education Secretary was a vital one in a government whose Prime Minister had in 1996 described his priorities as "education, education, education", and which had made reductions in school class sizes a key pledge. In the event it was higher education that proved to be the most controversial issue for Blunkett, as he moved towards the imposition of tuition fees at public universities which had previously been free.

Election 1997 (Becomes Secretary of State of Education and Employment)
  • Labour 24,901 (74% +4% on Modified 1992 Result)
  • Liberal Democrats 4,947 (15% +3% on Modified 1992 Result)
  • Conservatives 2,850 (8% -9% on Modified 1992 Result)
  • Referendum Party 624 (2%)
  • Socialist Labour Party 482 (1%)
  • Natural Law Party 61 (0%)
  • Labour hold with a majority of 19,954 (59%) on a swing from Lib Dem to Lab of 0.5%
  • Turnout: 57%

As Home Secretary

At the start of the Labour government's second term in 2001, Blunkett was promoted to become Home Secretary, a long-term ambition of his. Observers saw him as a leading rival to Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's hopes to succeed Blair as the next Labour party leader and potential Prime Minister.[1]

Appearing to be tough on immigration and asylum was a central issue for Blunkett during his time at the Home Office. In December 2001, he controversially called for immigrants to develop a greater "sense of belonging" to Britain. In April 2002, he proposed new powers which he claimed would curb illegal immigration and unfounded claims for political asylum.

Another controversial area for Blunkett was civil liberties (which he famously described as "airy fairy" [2]); as Education Secretary, he had repeatedly expressed the intention that, were he to become Home Secretary, he would make the then-incumbent Jack Straw, who had been criticised for being somewhat hard-line, seem overly liberal.

On 15 January 2003, he was at the centre of controversy again when at a gathering of Asian and Black Home Office Employees in London he made a joke: "Colin Jackson succeeded, despite being Welsh". The comment caused great controversy amongst senior Welsh Nationalists but the Labour party rallied around Blunkett and the matter was quietly dropped.

In 2003, he announced an extension of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act, which critics condemned as a "snoopers' charter". His Criminal Justice Act 2003 reduced legal safeguards such as the right to trial by jury and double jeopardy rules. He also attempted to introduce compulsory national identity cards (initially called "entitlement cards", though this euphemism was later dropped).

These measures earned him the nickname Big Blunkett [3] from parts of the tabloid press, a reference to the Orwellian concept of Big Brother.

Election 2001 (Blunkett becomes Home Secretary)
  • Labour 19,650 (77% +3% on Election 1997)
  • Conservatives 2,601 (10% +2% on Election 1997)
  • Liberal Democrats 2,238 (9% -6% on Election 1997)
  • Socialist Alliance 361 (1%)
  • Socialist Labour Party 354 (1% Unchanged on Election 1997)
  • United Kingdom Independence Party 348 (1%)
  • Labour hold with a majority of 17,049 (67%) on a swing from Con to Lab of 1%
  • Turnout: 47% (-10% on Election 1997)

First resignation

During his time as Home Secretary, Blunkett had a relationship with Kimberly Fortier, the American-born publisher of right-wing magazine The Spectator. The three-year relationship ended acrimoniously in August 2004, with Fortier choosing to return to her husband, Stephen Quinn; Fortier has since reverted to her married name of Quinn.

Blair regarded it as being proper for Blunkett to remain Home Secretary while pursuing his pregnant former lover in the courts to ascertain the paternity of her unborn child, and that Blunkett was also in the process of introducing compulsory national identity cards may, by comparison, seem irrelevant. However, at the end of November 2004, it was alleged that Blunkett abused his position to assist his ex-lover's Filipina nanny, Leoncia "Luz" Casalme, by speeding up ('fast-tracking') her residence visa application and later using his influence to ensure that she successfully obtained an Austrian tourist visa. An investigation into these allegations was launched, led by Sir Alan Budd. Shortly before Sir Alan was due to report his findings, an email emerged headed "no special favours, .. but a bit quicker". Though there was no evidence Blunkett was responsible for the email or its title, he resigned as Home Secretary on 15 December 2004, saying that questions about his honesty were damaging the government. Sir Alan's final verdict, delivered on 21 December 2004, concluded that "I believe I have been able to establish a chain of events linking Blunkett to the change in the decision on Mrs Casalme's application."

Budd admitted that the investigation was "not a straightforward matter", because few involved in it could recall the details. His report says:

I believe there are two broad possibilities: Mr. Blunkett was seeking special help for Mrs Quinn's nanny (or) he was raising the case as an example of the poor performance of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND). I do not have direct evidence that allows me to choose between the two possibilities.

An important fax from Blunkett's office to the IND had not been found during the inquiry, but Sir Alan found no evidence of a deliberate attempt to conceal or destroy evidence. Following the report's publication, he told reporters:

I have been unable to link Mr. Blunkett to the sending of faxes to the IND. There must have been such a link but I have been unable to discover what its nature was.

Blunkett resigned as Home Secretary after being told in advance of Budd's findings. He said:

I want to make it clear that I fully accept the findings of Sir Alan's report, where his findings differ from my recollections this is simply due to failure on my part to recall details.

On the same day that Sir Alan delivered his report, a parliamentary standards committee led by Sir Philip Mawer also upheld a complaint against Blunkett for giving Mrs Quinn a taxpayer-funded railway ticket (reserved for MPs' spouses) to the value of £179. Blunkett had already admitted that he had broken the rules, saying that he had made an honest mistake, and repaid the sum in question.

Blunkett's situation was not helped by a series of stinging criticisms of his Cabinet colleagues, made by Blunkett to his biographer, which became public days before he resigned. His increasingly high-profile paternity battle (see Private life) was also believed by many to be harming his position. However, many believed that he would be able to salvage his political career.

Return to the Cabinet

Those who believed in Blunkett's continuing influence appeared to be justified after the 2005 general election when he returned to the cabinet as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, where he faced a growing pensions crisis. Characteristically he was already at work on the morning of Saturday 7 May, a matter of hours after his appointment.

Election 2005 (Blunkett returns to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions)
  • Labour 16,876 (69% -8% on Election 2001)
  • Liberal Democrats 3,232 (13% +4% on Election 2001)
  • Conservatives 2,205 (9% -1% on Election 2001)
  • British National Party 1,537 (6%)
  • United Kingdom Independence Party 779 (3% +2% on Election 2001)
  • Labour hold with a majority of 13,644 (55%) on a swing from Lab to Lib Dem of 6%
  • Turnout: 47% (Unchanged on Election 2001)

Further political trouble and second resignation

In late October 2005, David Blunkett began to feel the pressure of the media for a second time.

Two weeks before the 2005 general election he took up a directorship in a company called DNA Bioscience, a company he also held shares in.

On 31 October 2005 Mr Blunkett was forced to sell the shares he bought for his children, and was asked to explain why he had not consulted the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments regarding the directorship. Mr Blunkett's political opponents claimed that a conflict of interest was created by him having been director of, and still holding shares in, a company proposing to bid for government contracts to provide paternity tests to the Child Support Agency - part of the Department for Work and Pensions, of which he was Secretary of State.

An investigation by Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell - asked for by Prime Minister Tony Blair - found that although Blunkett had not broken the Ministerial Code by becoming a director for, or buying shares in the company, he should have consulted the Advisory Committee before doing so.

However, it was revealed on 1st November that Lord Mayhew of Twysden - who chairs the Advisory Committee - had sent three letters to Blunkett reminding him to seek the committee's advice on his involvement with DNA Bioscience, which he ignored. On the same day, Sir Alistair Graham, chairman of the committee on 'Standards in Public Life', said Blunkett had breached ministerial rules.

Blunkett declared that he would not be resigning quoting to a newspaper "I have done nothing wrong." A statement by Downing Street said that the prime minister did not believe that Blunkett's mistake should stop him doing his job.

It also became public that Mr Blunkett had taken two other paid-for jobs, one with the international charity World ORT [4], and the other with Indepen Consulting, both without consultation with the Advisory Committee.

On November 2 Lord Nolan, a former Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and architect of the code of conduct, was reported as having said in an interview with the Yorkshire Post "I think he's more or less admitted that he should have followed the rules. But I think it's the fault of the Government that he has been allowed to see if he can get away with it." Lord Nolan was reported to have continued: "Blair should insist on Ministers all round obeying the rules. I think that if anyone breaks the rules they should be disciplined, otherwise there's no point having the rules." Lord Nolan agreed that this meant that Blunkett should have been dismissed or demoted by the Prime Minister. [5]

On the same day, November 2, a scheduled appearance before a House of Commons Select Committee was cancelled at the last minute and Blunkett was summoned to a meeting at Number 10. Later that morning, a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed Mr Blunkett had resigned at the meeting, stating that his position had become untenable. In a statement, Mr Blunkett claimed that the 'Lies' of those such as Max Clifford would one day be 'dealt' with.

John Hutton MP was appointed as David Blunkett's successor on the same day.

Private life

Blunkett divorced his wife, by whom he had three sons, in 1990. In 2004, as news of his affair with former lover Kimberly Quinn became international news, Blunkett asserted that he was the father of Mrs Quinn's two-year-old son, William, and also perhaps of her then unborn child. Mrs Quinn denied this, claiming that both children were her husband's. In late 2004, Blunkett began a legal challenge to gain access to William, more of which is covered in the David Blunkett Story section of the Fathers' rights movement in the UK article. In late December 2004, as was widely reported in the media, DNA tests confirmed that Mrs Quinn's two-year-old son, William, was indeed Blunkett's biological child (although she was still married to her husband). On 5 March it was confirmed that Blunkett was not the father of Quinn's newborn son, Lorcan.

Blunkett's guide dogs — Ruby, Teddy, Offa, Lucy, and most recently Sadie — have become familiar characters at Westminster, inspiring occasional witty comments from Blunkett and his fellow MPs on both sides of the house. In one memorable incident, Lucy vomited in Parliament during a speech by opposition member David Willetts. On occasion when Blunkett is being guided by Tony Blair the wry comment has been made: "who is guiding whom?" However, Blunkett's blindness does not generally arouse much comment.

Recent developments have seen Mr. Blunkett criticised for another affair with a young woman and for not disclosing a free £1000 per year membership of an exclusive London nightclub (Annabel's).

Private Eye cover featuring anti-Blunkett joke
Enlarge
Private Eye cover featuring anti-Blunkett joke

David Blunkett in popular culture

As a result of David Blunkett's affair with Kimberly Quinn he has been portrayed three times in dramatic or musical form. Along with the other recent dalliances associated with The Spectator, Blunkett was featured in Who's The Daddy?, a play by Toby Young and Lloyd Evans, the magazine's theatre critics, which ran at The King's Head theatre in the Summer of 2005. The satirist Alistair Beaton wrote the television film A Very Social Secretary, for Channel 4, which was first screened by the network in October 2005. Mary Riddell in The Observer was strongly critical of the programme, asserting that "it is just about the nastiest show I have seen".[6] Finally, Blunkett - The Musical toured the UK during the course of Spring 2005. This badly received work featured music by the American composer Mary Jo Paranzino[7]; there is also a relevant book by The Times journalist Ginny Dougary.

A character based on Blunkett also appeared in the Canadian cartoon series Bromwell High, and a club-night called Electric Blunkett, held at the Sheffield Blind Institute, began in the summer of 2005, although its name was swiftly changed to Electric Blanket.

Notes

  1. ^  For example, see "David Blunkett," The Economist, 7 June 2001, and "Profile: Battler defeated by second resignation," The Independent, 2 November 2005.

Bibliography

External links

Resignation as Home Secretary

Further political trouble

Pay off for leaving the Cabinet - then coming back...

Paternity battle


Preceded by:
Joan Maynard
Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside
1987–present
Succeeded by:
Current incumbent
Preceded by:
Gillian Shephard
Secretary of State for Education and Employment
1997–2001
Succeeded by:
Sec. State Education and Skills
Estelle Morris
Preceded by:
Jack Straw
Home Secretary
2001–2004
Succeeded by:
Charles Clarke
Preceded by:
Alan Johnson
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
May 2005–November 2005
Succeeded by:
John Hutton
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