In the news

July 21, 2000

It has been a roller-coaster couple of weeks for education secretary David Blunkett. He lost a High Court judgment on his plans to introduce performance-related pay for teachers and he was criticised for failing to declare rent on his Wimbledon flat. Then, after being used as a key government spokesman in the run-up to the comprehensive spending review announcement, he was awarded a large budget increase for his department in that review.

But Mr Blunkett is a man known for his resilience, having had to cope with blindness and poverty from childhood. He was four when he was sent to a boarding school for the blind and 12 when his father was killed in an accident at work.

He seemed destined for a career as a piano tuner, but fought to sit O and A levels and studied at night school and on day release to gain a place at Sheffield University to study politics and education.

His first job was as a clerk-typist with the East Midlands Gas Board, where he became a shop steward. In 1970, aged 22, he was elected to Sheffield City Council, becoming leader ten years later. He was a tutor in industrial relations at Barnsley College of Technology from 1974 until being elected MP for Sheffield, Brightside in 1987.

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Mr Blunkett is regarded by some as "the last vestige of socialism in the cabinet" and by Tony Blair as "a star performer", and he has proved an adept - and witty - politician.

But he has hinted that his time in education may be coming to an end. He caused consternation in February when he repeated his personal opposition to top-up fees, but said: "I won't be secretary of state forever." More recently he revealed that by the next election he was ready to move.

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There are rumours that he has ambitions to become home secretary and recent reports have even suggested that he could become prime minister.

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