UK work secretary David Blunkett resigns

November 2, 2005

David Blunkett, the United Kingdom's Work and Pensions Secretary, resigned following a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair today.

Public pressure had been growing on Mr. Blunkett to resign after revelations emerged that he had broken the British Ministerial Code of Conduct in relation to his large shareholdings and short-lived directorship in a company called DNA Bioscience. It is the second time Blunkett's has been forced to stand down from office, having previously stepped down as home secretary last year over claims that his office fast-tracked a visa application.

A member of the opposition Liberal Democrat party, Greg Mulholland said "I think he's done the right thing [in quitting], having done several quite blatantly wrong things". In an interview with the Sheffield Star yesterday, Blunkett declared that he would not resign, insisting that he had "done nothing wrong."

Blunkett's replacement was named as John Hutton, previously Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.