Blind minister UK's rising star
2001-06-09 10:08
London - David Blunkett had his status as the rising star of Britain's
Labour government confirmed on Friday when Prime Minister Tony
Blair promoted him to the prestigious job of interior minister.
His new portfolio takes in fighting crime and dealing with
immigration and asylum, both areas where being seen to be tough is
of paramount importance, and Blunkett, who also happens to be
blind, fits the bill perfectly.
A man with old-fashioned views on the family, homosexuality and soft drugs, he will help Blair's government combat the view widely held by voters that it is too soft on criminals and asylum seekers.
In four years at his previous job of education minister, he has been effective, unfailingly loyal to his prime minister and remains
a popular figure among voters at large.
Blunkett was born into poverty in the industrial city of Sheffield
in northern England in 1947. When he was a young child his father,
a gasworks foreman, died after falling into a vat of boiling water
at work.
At the age of four Blunkett was sent away to a boarding school for
the blind and was expected to become a piano tuner.
But he went to night school to get academic qualifications,
enrolled at university and qualified as a teacher. He was active in
local politics in Sheffield and used that as a springboard to enter
parliament in 1987.
In a first Labour term which saw the government fail to deliver on
many of its pledges on public services, education under Blunkett's
stewardship was a relative success.
He disbursed millions of pounds of new investment, and got class sizes in junior schools down, though in senior schools classrooms were still bursting at the seams.
Blunkett was also credited with dispensing with "trendy" teaching methods, and using his skills as a conciliator to avoid large-scale industrial action by disgruntled teachers.
He enjoys making a joke out of his blindness. He entitled his autobiography, On a clear day, and is fond of using the
expressions: "I see what you mean" and "That was an eye-opener for
me."
When his guide dog, Lucy, vomited on the carpet in parliament's debating chamber, he said it was her verdict on the quality of the Conservative speeches. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA