Lord Blunkett entered parliament in 1987 as Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough. Within 15 months he had been appointed Shadow Local Government Minister before becoming Shadow Health Secretary and then Shadow Education Secretary.

With Labour’s election victory in 1997 he became Education and Employment Secretary. In 2001 Lord Blunkett became Home Secretary where he dealt with the changes in society that followed the September 11 attacks. After the 2005 general election he became Work and Pensions Secretary.

Lord Blunkett is currently Professor of Politics in Practice at the University of Sheffield, and is the Senior Home Affairs Advisor to the Counter Extremism Group.