Blunkett has had a long political career in local and federal government.
In 1997 he became Secretary of State for Education and Employment for the labour government. He led on the implementation of the New Deal, and was committed to increasing equality through responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Commission and the establishment of the Disability Rights Commission. There he oversaw massive improvements in the basic standards of literacy and numeracy, substantial class size reductions and the introduction of university tuition fees.
With Labour returned in 2001, Blunkett became Home Secretary, where he dealt with counter-terrorism and the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, crime and antisocial behaviour, managing immigration and asylum, policing, criminal justice, prison and probation services, and citizenship.
Since 2006, Blunkett has undertaken a series of major pieces of work – including on anti poverty and affordable credit; on social mobility; a review of the future role of the community and voluntary sector – at the request of the Prime Minister; and Chaired a major review of dedicated school transport – leading a Commission which recommended extensive changes. Since the beginning of 2009 he has also commenced a review of police accountability for the Home Office.
Blunkett continues to take a direct interest in cyber security – including as Honorary Chair of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA-UK) Advisory Board. He continues to undertake work on an international basis on welfare reform, on internet security and data processing, and maintains his long-standing interest in education, skills and training.
He is involved with a large number of local, national and international charities, and is a regular contributor to the British media through newspapers and journals, radio and television, and through a column in The Sun -Britain’s biggest selling daily newspaper.