DAVID Blunkett’s departure from the cabinet puts a huge question mark over Tony Blair’s judgement, as he tries to stage-manage his exit from No 10 before the next election.

SCANDAL-PRONE British Cabinet minister David Blunkett was forced to resign yesterday for the second time in less than a year in a major embarrassment for Tony Blair.

John Hutton will replace David Blunkett as Work and Pensions Secretary, Downing Street said.

David Blunkett quit the Cabinet for the second time in less than a year today - saying he wanted to protect the British government from being diverted by rows over his business dealings.

David Blunkett is expected to resign as the UK's Work and Pensions Secretary today following controversy over his business dealings.

DAVID BLUNKETT declared yesterday that he would not allow his critics to drive him out of office as he battled to save his career.

Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett tonight bowed to pressure and asked his sons to sell off shares in technology firm DNA Bioscience which he had purchased on their behalf.

David Blunkett is fighting new allegations that he abused his position as a British Government minister.

“GOD is good,” said the old tramp one icy night as he made his way unsteadily over a narrow bridge.

Donal Hickey

David Blunkett tonight condemned republican protesters in west Belfast whose demand for the release of a jailed IRA killer prevented him making a visit as part of an EU ministers conference.

British Works and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett today pulled out of a visit to a job centre in west Belfast as republicans staged a protest demanding the release from jail of IRA bomber Sean Kelly.

Republicans demanding the release from jail of IRA bomber Sean Kelly staged a protest at a jobs centre in west Belfast today ahead of a visit by British Works and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett David Blunkett and European employment ministers.

FORMER British Home Secretary David Blunkett yesterday remained silent as the row over his relationship with Kimberly Quinn once more grabbed front-page headlines.

The husband of Kimberly Quinn today angrily rebuked her ex-lover, former British Home Secretary David Blunkett, for speaking publicly about the parenthood of their baby.

A DNA test has proved that the new-born son of Kimberly Quinn is not the child of David Blunkett, a spokesman for the former Home Secretary confirmed tonight.

David Blunkett is not the father of his former lover’s baby son, The Sun reported tonight.

A handful of slightly puzzled regulars of a tiny English country pub were the first to hear songs from a new muscial about the rise and fall of former UK Home Secretary David Blunkett

The former lover of British ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett has given birth to a baby boy, it was reported today.

The final episode of hit US sitcom Friends has been voted the best thing on television in the UK in 2004.

A “CHAIN of events” linked former British Home Secretary David Blunkett to the speeding up of his ex-lover’s nanny’s application for leave to remain in Britain, an official inquiry found yesterday.

An official inquiry into claims that David Blunkett misused his public position to help his former lover today concluded that there was “a chain of events” linking him to the speeding up of her nanny’s application for leave to remain in Britain.

A complaint against former British Home Secretary David Blunkett was upheld today after he gave his ex-lover two first-class rail tickets paid for by the taxpayer.

The findings of the investigation into claims that former British Home Secretary David Blunkett misused his public position to help his former lover will be published later today.

A journalist yesterday admitted he also had an affair with the married lover of former British Home Secretary David Blunkett, in a surprise twist to the saga that led to the minister's swift fall from grace.

WHEN you write a book, you always hope for two things. The first hope is that the book will be published coming up to Christmas, because that’s when people who never normally buy books purchase them by the sack-load as gifts for others.

A journalist today admitted he also had an affair with former British Home Secretary David Blunkett’s married lover Kimberly Quinn.

Tony Blair has been damaged by David Blunkett’s resignation over the “nannygate” affair, a poll revealed tonight.

The pregnant ex-lover of former British Home Secretary David Blunkett will begin her recovery from illness at home today after an 18-day stay in hospital.

The indefinite detention without trial of foreign nationals in Britain under emergency terror laws is incompatible with European human rights laws, the UK's Law Lords ruled today.

DAVID BLUNKETT’S tangled private life has finally cost him the career he loves, after 34 years as a political battler.

BRITISH Home Secretary David Blunkett, who resigned last night, said he had sacrificed his political career to pursue his paternity claim to his ex-lover Kimberly Quinn’s son.

BRITISH Home Secretary David Blunkett resigned last night after an inquiry found his office was involved in “fast-tracking” his ex-lover Kimberly Quinn’s nanny’s application to stay in Britain.

DAVID BLUNKETT last night insisted he had done nothing wrong even as he resigned as British Home Secretary.

MARRIED magazine publisher Kimberly Quinn had a three-year-long affair with former British Home Secretary David Blunkett.

David Blunkett insisted tonight he had done nothing wrong even as he resigned as Home Secretary.

British Home Secretary David Blunkett has succumbed to pressure and resigned, it was confirmed tonight.

Six senior British cabinet ministers have voiced doubts about UK Home Secretary David Blunkett's future, according to a London newspaper.

Britain's Home Secretary David Blunkett was tonight facing claims that a second visa application was “fast tracked” for his former lover’s nanny.

David Blunkett intimidated officials into fast-tracking a visa for his former lover’s nanny, according to a senior Whitehall insider.

Voters do not believe Britain's Home Secretary David Blunkett should be forced to resign over allegations surrounding his affair with publisher Kimberly Quinn, according to an opinion poll tonight.

The Irish publisher whose wife was involved in an affair with British home secretary David Blunkett said yesterday that she would testify before an inquiry into claims that Blunkett fast-tracked a residency application for her nanny.

British Home Secretary David Blunkett’s row with his pregnant ex-lover over access to her two-year-old son prompted a new round of claims and counter-claims today.

BRITAIN’S Home Secretary David Blunkett yesterday won the first round of a court battle with his pregnant ex-lover Kimberly Quinn over access to her two-year-old son.