David Blunkett

The Right Honourable David Blunkett (born June 6, 1947) is a British Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside. He was Education Secretary from 1997 to 2001, and Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004. Following the 2005 General Election he was appointed to the position of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

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. On 5 March it was confirmed that Blunkett was not the father of Quinn's newborn son, Lorcan.

Related Topics:
1990 - Kimberly Quinn - 2004 - David Blunkett Story section - Fathers' rights movement in the UK - 5 March

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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. However, Blunkett's blindness does not generally arouse much comment.

Related Topics:
Guide dog - Westminster - David Willetts

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