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Blunkett Affair Splits Views In Britain
(ARC-CPOD) Dec. 10, 2004 - A cabinet minister's highly-publicized affair has divided views on the behaviour of public servants in Britain, according to a poll by Populus published in The Times. 50 per cent of respondents believe the private lives of politicians are irrelevant, while 49 per cent say they have a responsibility to uphold high standards.
Home secretary David Blunkett recently accepted having an affair with married American Kimberly Quinn. Blunkett allegedly used his influence to expedite a visa application for Quinn's nanny, and allowed Quinn to travel by rail under a plan intended for spouses of parliamentarians.
Blunkett—who claims to be the father of Quinn's unborn child and two-year old son—is currently fighting for access rights in court. He has denied "fast-tracking" the visa application, and has repaid the cost of the used rail ticket. More than half of all respondents believe the allegations should not force Blunkett to resign.
In 2001, Blunkett—blind since birth—became home secretary in Tony Blair's cabinet. He had previously held the education and employment portfolio. In 2003, Blunkett introduced the Criminal Justice Bill, which reduced legal safeguards such as the right to trial by jury and double jeopardy rules. He has also strongly campaigned in favour of a national identity card system.
Polling Data
Which of the following statements comes closer to your view?
It doesn't matter what politicians | 50% |
Politicians have a responsibility to | 49% |
There has been considerable publicity recently about an affair between home secretary David Blunkett and Kimberly Quinn, a married woman. I am going to read out some of the specific allegations made about Blunkett's conduct. Please say in each case if you think it should be grounds for him to resign or not.
Grounds to | Not grounds | |
Misused his position to help lover's | 41% | 54% |
Had an affair with a married woman | 18% | 77% |
Let lover use MP's rail pass | 28% | 67% |
Legal case to gain access rights to son | 13% | 82% |
Source: Populus / The Times
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,511 British adults, conducted from Dec. 3 to Dec. 5, 2004. No margin of error was provided.
