David Blunkett

David Blunkett makes a speech

David Blunkett (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010.

Political Career

Blind since birth, and coming from a poor family in one of Sheffield's most deprived districts, he rose to become Education and Employment Secretary, Home Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary in Tony Blair's Cabinet following Labour's victory in the 1997 general election.

He was promoted to become Home Secretary following the 2001 general election, a position he held until 2004, when he resigned following highly publicised matters related to his personal life. Following the 2005 general election, he was appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, though he resigned from that role later that year following a large amount of media coverage relating to external business interests in the period when he did not hold a cabinet post.

On 20 June 2014, Blunkett announced to his constituency party that he would be standing down from the House of Commons at the next general election in May 2015.

Education

Blunkett was educated at schools for the blind in Sheffield and Shrewsbury.[3] He was never sent for assessment at the School for the Blind in Worcester, and instead attended the Royal National College for the Blind in Shrewsbury.[4] 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 he gained a BA honours degree in Political Theory and Institutions

External Links

David Blunkett official webpage David Blunkett - parliamentarian webpage