Never trust an editor by Kevin Widdop

Published in Leeds Student on 06/05/05, the day on

which Blunkett was sworn back into government as Work

and Pensions Secretary.

David Blunkett knows Yorkshire well. Born and bred

here, he wants to get back to local issues and do well

for his constituency just up the road in Brightside,

Sheffield. And he's doing just that.

***

Looking refreshed after he was so stung last winter,

he is bouncing from village to village, cup of tea to

cup of tea. Blunkett's back with a spring in his step,

still embodying the straight-talking steel of

Sheffield that he so typified during his time in the

cabinet.

It is days since Labour's election coordinator, Alan

Milburn, apologised for the death of a police officer

killed by ricin plotter Kamel Bourgass. This allowed

the Conservatives to merge the issues of immigration

and security - something they have wanted to do for

some time. "Michael Howard is now trying to exploit

some of these issues," Blunkett says. Yet he won't be

torn on whether the decision to apologise was a

mistake. "I'm not going to comment on that", he says,

laughing.

Funny that. In an eponymous biography of Blunkett

written by journalist Stephen Pollard, he seemed to be

fairly liberal in chastising his cabinet colleagues.

Former Home Secretary and Leeds grad Jack Straw left

the Home Office "in a giant mess"; Charles Clarke had

"gone soft"; and the Chancellor Gordon Brown was

intolerant of colleagues voicing disagreement.

Though the claims were made off-the record, Blunkett

never denied making the comments. A bit like Gordon

Brown's non-dismissal of allegations made in Brown's

Britain, the book that immortalized his now-famous

statement that he would never again trust a word Blair

said.

Trust was something that he worked hard to earn. The

public associated him as much with stability as with

toil. Well-known for his grueling eighteen-hour days

as Home Secretary - along with Brown and John Prescott

- I wonder how his schedule has altered since his

departure from the cabinet. "Home Secretary, apart

from Prime Minister, is the most pressurized,

time-consuming job in government."

He says that people are more forthcoming and is

enjoying speaking with his local constituents. “People

are more relaxed because you’re not Home Secretary.

I’m spared the national press conferences

which are held at 7.30am.”

Now a backbencher, and with more time on his hands but

with no less desire for the job, he says his reception

amongst the public - many of whom wanted him back

after his resignation - has been "warm" and

"enthusiastic".

Yet rewind five months and Blunkett is in the midst of

a veritable media storm. The Press' unoriginal

penchant for describing scandals using one of the

protagonist's first names came into play yet again.

This one was dubbed 'Kimberleygate', so called because

of Blunkett’s affair with Spectator publisher Kimberly

Quinn.

Daily Mail editor and long-time friend of Blunkett,

Paul Dacre led the media onslaught following

revelations of the romance. Yet at a party celebrating

Dacre’s tenth anniversary in charge of the paper,

Blunkett saluted the man at the helm, describing him

as ‘a man who reflects the best in journalism. I owe

you one.’

So how did he react to the relentless mud-slinging?

"You can never count any editor as one of your mates.

Their aim is to sell newspapers," he says

matter-of-factly.

Things became increasingly messy when the Mail

revealed that Guardian sketch writer Simon Hoggart had

also been involved with Quinn. Three-in-the-bed jokes

ensued, as did questions about whether there was a

fourth man. But one didn’t materialise. With friends

like that, as they say, who needs enemies?

The story is cinematic enough: blind Yorkshire lad

overcomes adversity to gain one of the highest

positions in government only to be undone by, in

Blunkett's words, a right posh lot.

Put simply, he and Quinn were a monumental mismatch;

he the third most powerful politician in the land, a

quiet man who enjoys walking and poetry, she an

international It-girl, a socialite beloved of

glamorous parties from London to New York. Coupled

with his indiscretions to hack Pollard, he comes off

looking somewhat naïve.

But just as famed for his resilience as he was for his

hard line, I ask Blunkett how he has come out of the

hue and cry? “I’m a wiser man after it. I’ve learnt a

great deal.”

This isn’t the first time that Blunkett was written

off only to beat his doubters. Born on a council

estate in Sheffield to a gasman father who died when

Blunkett was 12, he was a most atypical New Labour

Home Secretary. His detractors said his style fed the

tabloid’s populist agenda: tough on asylum seekers,

proposals for the highly unpopular ID cards in waiting

and the drawing up of the new Terrorism act all added

fuel to the fire.

Yet as one of Blair’s closest allies – and friends -

the PM stayed loyal. Just as it looked like Blunkett

was going to hang on, however, he resigned after a

leaked e-mail revealed that a visa had been

fast-tracked for his ex-lover's nanny.

When I spoke to Blunkett, it was the week in which the

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy had, to put it

mildly, been having a few sleep-deprived nights. He

knows a thing or two about sleepless nights, too. But,

now, three weeks before election day, he is enjoying

the politicking - and more kip. I wonder if the man

who said he would put his personal career before his

political one and fight for his child, has any advice

for Kennedy. ''Get more sleep'', he says bluntly.

I ask him if he is worried about the threat of the Lib

Dems, particularly in the marginals? His answer is

negative. “I think it’s really dangerous. People might

wake up and find out that Michael Howard is PM. My

message is: close your eyes and then open them and you

might realise that Michael Howard is PM and Oliver

Letwin Chancellor.''

***

Fast forward three weeks and Blunkett’s majority

remains intact. And Michael Howard is not PM.

He wants this term to be different in style, if not

tone. “I hope that there is a different relationship

between government and the people. Decisions should be

devolved. We need a different style that involves

devolving cash to councils; I would like to see people

engaged more with the government.”

The public reconciliation between Blair and Brown has,

he says, helped Labour to “turn the corner” and has

led too to a third election victory – unprecedented

for a Labour government. He reflects that “it was

about time” that they patched up their differences.

Will we ever see him back in a front bench role? "I

had a conversation with Tony [Blair] in February and

he said: 'If I make no promises and you take no

presumptions, no one will be disappointed.' If the

Prime Minister says that, then who am I to say

anything?"

Yet he adds, with just a hint of understatement: “If

an opportunity arose, I’d be happy to take it up.''