David Blunkett

Author:

Stephen Pollard

[?ProductPublisher:?]

Whatever you think of David Blunkett as a politician, after reading Pollard's account of his life, you cannot fail to be impressed by the sheer determination and stoicism of the man. In understanding Blunkett's character, his ability and liking for a fight, you cannot but feel certain that there will be a return to frontline politics for him.

The book looks at Blunkett's beginnings, which were inauspicious indeed. His family had little in the way of money before his father died (as the result of a workplace accident) and less afterwards. His visual impairment (which Blunkett, lacking patience for politically correct terminology, more often refers to in the book simply as blindness) set him at a huge disadvantage from early on. His parents were forced by the council to send him off to a boarding school for the blind at the tender age of four: a cold and harsh environment where the children had to find their own way around from the start. Later, at secondary school, he was faced with a headteacher who was fiercely against the principle of exams, and forbade the pupils from sitting them. As a result, the school also made it difficult for Blunkett and others to attend an external college, in their own time, to gain qualifications. Such hardships, though, appear to have strengthened his resolve to succeed and ability to bounce back. His capacity for work is enormous; indeed his whole life has been dedicated to politics and the pursuit of learning.

He is renowned in political circles for having an impressive memory, as well as the ability to listen to recordings of work at twice normal speed, thereby absorbing enormous amounts of written material. In debate, he intimidates colleagues and opponents alike. As well as achieving a place at university to study politics, and training as a teacher, Blunkett stood for Sheffield City Council, going on to become council leader for seven years before entering the Commons. He toughed out many jeers and heckles from the Tory opposition in the early days as he struggled to find the despatch box.

Pollard's book was, of course, the root of some trouble for Blunkett. His criticism of fellow Cabinet members was released into the public domain as his affair with Kimberly Quinn, and the ensuing inquiry into his department's alleged fast tracking of her nanny's visa, was under fierce media scrutiny. The book was not authorised by Blunkett, and it has been said that he had not read "a word of the text".

The book discusses aspects of the relationship with Quinn, although not in great depth. Included is a postscript in which Pollard unleashes heavy criticism of both Kimberly and Stephen Quinn's public handling of the affair. The book is, however, primarily about Blunkett's political life, and as such charts his emergence as a serious political player at a crucial time in politics - he had been Home Secretary for just 96 days by 9/11. It also offers a very interesting perspective of the shaping of New Labour from opposition under Kinnock to the present day.

people wonder how he has managed to achieve so much in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Pollard attempts to answer those questions by setting out how the circumstances in which he found himself affected the boy and shaped the man's political thinking. Blunkett is often seen as an independent and somewhat isolated figure, and Pollard's account opens up a softer, more human side to his character. A very readable book.

Extent	380 pages	Sub. No.
Size	N/A	Price	[?DiscountedPrice:?]
Format	Hardback
Availability	[?AvailabilityAlt:?]	Delivery	Delivery options and charges