[4] 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 media coverage relating to external business interests in the period when he did not hold a cabinet post.

The editor of the conservative The Spectator magazine, Fraser Nelson, commented: "He was never under-briefed, and never showed any sign of his disability ... he was one of Labour's very best MPs – and one of the very few people in parliament whose life I would describe as inspirational.

[12] Blunkett was born on 6 June 1947 at Jessop Hospital, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, with improperly developed optic nerves due to a rare genetic disorder.

Blunkett and Michie were among what political journalist Julia Langdon has described as "an energetic group of young Labour activists who emerged in Sheffield in the 1970s, a number of whom moved on to Westminster".

[23] The Conservative MP for Sheffield Hallam, Irvine Patnick, coined the phrase "Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire"[24] to describe the left-wing politics of its local government.

Although bestowed as a criticism of the radical policies being pursued by Labour councillors in the area, Langdon notes that it "was in fact happily embraced by those it was intended to denigrate".

[29][30] As secretary of state, Blunkett pursued substantial reforms, ready to take on the teaching unions and determined to ensure basic standards of literacy and numeracy.

Subsequently, there has since 1997 been a notable increase in literacy and numeracy, and there are 42,000 more teachers than in 1997, with doubled spending per pupil in frontline[clarification needed] schools (and over 100,000 teaching assistants) through to 2010.

[31] A key pillar of Blunkett's work as education secretary was the introduction of Sure Start, a government programme which provides services for pre-school children and their families.

[36] In 2000, while attempting to cool opposition to the proposed abolition of the Local Government Act 1988's Section 28, he issued guidelines on the importance of 'family values' in teaching children sex education.

It caused a backbench rebellion and provoked strong opposition in the House of Lords; Blunkett made concessions over incitement to religious hatred (later carried through by his successor) and to introduce a "sunset clause".

[49] In 2004, it emerged that Blunkett had directed Home Office civil servants to closely monitor and counter the findings of Migration Watch UK, which controversially included manipulating the timing of statistical releases to avoid criticism from the pressure group.

[50] Blunkett resigned as home secretary on 15 December 2004, amidst allegations that he helped fast-track the renewal of a work permit for his ex-lover's nanny.

[51] Blunkett thanked the Jewish community in 2005 for its "extraordinary support" when "things got difficult" in his personal and professional life, and said that "I won't let you down.

[53] The accusations made against him in November 2004 formed part of an acrimonious public conflict playing out in the Family Court in respect of contested Contact and Responsibility Orders.

[55] On 24 June 2014, Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World and head of communications for David Cameron, was found guilty of a charge of conspiracy to intercept voicemails.

Blunkett later said his biggest regret was introducing imprisonment for public protection with indeterminate sentences in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which had resulted in people languishing in prison for minor offences.

After sustained questions over a six-month period, Blunkett was asked on 31 October 2005 to explain why he had not consulted the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments regarding the directorship.

[58] Blunkett's political opponents claimed that a conflict of interest was created by him having been director of and holding shares in a company proposing to bid for government contracts to provide paternity tests to the Child Support Agency (CSA), part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), of which he was secretary of state.

On 2 November, a scheduled appearance before a House of Commons Select Committee was cancelled at the last minute, and Blunkett was summoned to a meeting at 10 Downing Street.

This became the main focus of discussion at the session of Prime Minister's Questions that afternoon, and Conservative leader Michael Howard described the event as 'the beginning of the final chapter of (Blair's) administration'.

[6] O'Donnell wrote: "The issue of shareholdings and trusts and the handling of private interests more generally is of course covered quite extensively in Section 5 of the Ministerial Code.

Since then, Blunkett has commenced putting together and becoming a founder of the Future For Youth Foundation, which sought to tackle high levels of unemployment in young people, and which concluded its work in the summer of 2015.

He was a key voice in the successful No to AV campaign in 2010–11,[67] prior to the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum, and in 2011 spoke out against the Coalition Government's proposed boundary changes.

This reported in June 2014, making recommendations ranging from the inclusion of a 'social action' section on UCAS forms to the creation of a post-careers advice service, for those who are retiring but wish to continue giving in their community.

Between June 2013 and May 2014, Blunkett led a review into local oversight of schools and the raising of standards for the leader Ed Miliband and the shadow education secretary.

He resigned in 2017, along with several others members of the board, when the sponsor would not acknowledge or take action on major issues raised about governance procedures, and the blocking of an independent review initiated by Blunkett and the then Chief Executive Wendy Marshall.

[73] Blunkett fears that intelligence agencies in the UK and abroad may be reluctant to share information because Suella Braverman became home secretary again days after resigning due to a security breach.

His booking agency JLA states that his speech topics include "The Political Landscape, Overcoming Adversity, Social Responsibility and Diversity.

Blunkett was introduced in the final scene as "The Home Secretary" with a shot of his feet and guide dog arriving to congratulate red troop on a successful operation.