X-Nico

11 unusual facts about David Blunkett


Avrom Lasarow

DNA Bioscience was known for the recruitment of British MP David Blunkett, education secretary in Tony Blair’s first cabinet in 1997 (Bartlett, 2012), as a non-executive director, who bought £15 000 of shares two weeks before the 2005 UK general election.

Ay family

The British Home Secretary at the time David Blunkett appeared to disregard various conventions on human rights requirements about not imprisoning children claiming that the other alternative — separating the children from their parents and putting them into care — was also undesirable.

Bernard Crick

When Labour came to power in 1997, Crick was appointed by his former student David Blunkett to head up an advisory group on citizenship education.

Count On

Count On is a major mathematics education project in the United Kingdom which was announced by education secretary David Blunkett at the end of 2000.

Group cohesiveness

In investigating these, academic Ted Cantle drew heavily on the concept of social cohesion, and the New Labour government (particularly then Home Secretary David Blunkett) in turn widely promoted the notion.

Kimberly Quinn

In 2001, she married Quinn; during this marriage, she had an affair with David Blunkett, Home Secretary in Tony Blair's ministry.

Leeds Central by-election, 1999

The shortlist for the Labour candidacy included the Chair of Leeds Central Constituency Labour Party, Maggie Giles-Hill, and Shahid Malik, but the selection went to Hilary Benn who had been Special Adviser to David Blunkett, then Secretary of State for Education and Employment.

London School of Business and Finance

David Blunkett, the former UK Home Secretary and Education Secretary, was appointed as a visiting lecturer at LSBF in 2011.

Minister of State for Communities and Local Government

His selection was not without controversy, as some speculated that Tony Blair had wanted to give David Blunkett the position as a Secretary of State, but this was opposed by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

Opinion polls on the British national identity card

Home Secretary David Blunkett began the process to introduce such cards and Charles Clarke seems determined to follow his lead.

Raise Your Fist and Yell

A (blind) Member of Parliament in the UK, David Blunkett, appealed to have the show banned altogether from the country, but his attempt was unsuccessful.


2013 Labour Party Falkirk candidate selection

On 2 July former Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett MP speaking on BBC Two's Daily Politics said the party had "taken the right step by having an investigation" and said he hoped the NEC would "deal with it decisively".

Cannabis classification in the United Kingdom

As Home Secretary in Tony Blair's Labour government, David Blunkett announced in 2001 that cannabis would be transferred from class B of the Act to class C, removing the threat of arrest for possession.

Charles Clarke

On 1 May 2009, Clarke joined David Blunkett in criticising Gordon Brown's leadership and declared that he was "ashamed" to be a Labour MP, citing the Damian McBride scandal.

More4

On its first night, the channel led with the satirical docudrama A Very Social Secretary about the affair between David Blunkett, the former British Home Secretary, and Kimberly Quinn.

Redwatch

Following the TUC's annual Congress in September 2004, where an anti-Redwatch resolution was passed, the TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber wrote to Home Secretary David Blunkett, requesting a meeting to discuss the issue.