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Due for publication on 6 Sep 2011 - can be pre-ordered
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- Product code: 205962
- ISBN: 0747589267,
ISBN13: 9780747589266,
paperback
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011
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Description of My Story: My Life in the Bear Pit |
Born into a working-class family in Sheffield, David Blunkett rose to one of the highest political positions in the country. The Blunkett Tapes is an intimate diary of his years at the centre of power and is all the more remarkable for his daily challenge of working without sight. With characteristic bluntness, Blunkett reveals the inside story of New Labour, his relationships with key Cabinet colleagues and the hurly-burly of day-to-day politics. Woven in are Blunketts unflinchingly frank personal reflections. Rarely does a politician so willingly admit where he went wrong and what he should have done better. From the blistering confidence of New Labours early days, through the troubled years that led to his two resignations, The Blunkett Tapes relates the journey of one of the most fascinating politicians of our time.
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About David Blunkett |
David Blunkett was elected as the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside in 1987. However, his outstanding political career began in local government as a member of Sheffield City Council, where he worked for eighteen years, seven of those as leader of the council. In Parliament David led Labour's assault on the poll tax as Opposition Local Government Spokesman. Promoted to the Shadow Cabinet in 1992, he took on, in turn, responsibility for Health, Education, and then Education and Employment. Following the 1997 Labour election victory, David became Secretary of State for Education and Employment. He oversaw substantial improvements in the basic standards of literacy and numeracy, considerable class size reductions, and the introduction of tuition fees, as well as the introduction of the New Deal for the unemployed and the reduction of the claimant count for unemployment, below a million for the first time in twenty-five years. From June 2001 to December 2004 David was Home Secretary, where he concentrated on fighting terrorism, tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, and managing immigration and asylum. He returned to the Cabinet in May 2005, where as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions he set a clear vision for reform of the welfare state and established a nationwide debate to find a long-term solution to pensions challenges.
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