Alastair Campbell
Writer, Strategist, Campaigner, The Rest is Politics
David Blunkett
Rt Hon Lord David Blunkett
Former Home Secretary
As Home Secretary David was in charge of security, immigration and policing. He is now Chairman of a multi-Academy Trust and an advisor to easyJet. As well as sharing insights on cyber-crime and crisis management, David considers how leaders can best engage with the public and counter the widespread sense of grievance. He argues for business to take a lead: 'You are a part of our communities, not just employers of people with certain skills.' After dinner he takes a lighter look at a life in politics - both highs and lows - from The Queen offering to cut up his meal, to Sarkozy claiming to have intercepted his emails.
Speaking Topics
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Geopolitics, Policy & Politics
- Leadership
- Resilience
- Transformation & Change
JLA Agent - Mitchell Red-WalkerWhatever your own political persuasion, when you listen to David you realise his conviction is utterly genuine. Add the fact that he's been blind since birth, and his achievements begin to hit home. But what might really surprise you is the warmth, the wealth of anecdotes and a delightful sense of humour.
Biography
Lord Blunkett has served in public life for over 40 years. From Leader of England’s fourth largest city to Home Secretary at the time of 9/11 he has taken on some of the most challenging roles in politics. Few senior politicians have experienced quite so many ups and downs, and none have achieved high office having been blind since birth.
Growing up in poverty, David’s circumstances were made even tougher when at the age of twelve he lost his father in a work accident. Rejecting the dismissal of many, and with the help of evening classes and day release from work, he entered the University of Sheffield and went on to become the youngest ever councillor in the city.
After leading Sheffield City Council (described by a local Tory as ‘The People’s Republic of South Yorkshire’), David entered Parliament and held shadow portfolios in health, education and employment. Then as Labour Party Chair he became a key player in the development of New Labour.
After the 1997 Labour landslide David was appointed Secretary of State for Education and Employment covering education and skills from early years, schooling, post-sixteen skills and apprenticeships, higher education and equal opportunities. As Home Secretary during one of the most tumultuous periods in recent history he oversaw one of the most controversial departments with responsibility for counter terrorism, immigration and justice. He also served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions where his responsibilities covered retirement income, welfare benefits, the development of Job Centre Plus and work programmes.
David stepped down as an MP after an impressive 28 years. After leaving the Commons, he not only continued his public service in the Lords, but was also appointed Professor of Politics in Practice at the University of Sheffield and Chair of the board of the University of Law.
As well as giving an insider’s take on the political landscape, David talks with authority on managing change, social responsibility and the benefits of diversity alongside his own lessons in overcoming adversity. He is also an entertaining and surprisingly revealing after dinner speaker, with a fund of anecdotes about Labour’s years in power and life in Westminster.
David maintains a wide range of policy interests including social mobility, cybersecurity, and education. He has roles with a number of charities and as a board member of the National Citizens Service Trust, he has had a long standing interest in citizenship education and the wellbeing of young people.
A regular writer and commentator in the media, David has published The Blunkett Tapes (sub-titled My Life in the Bear Pit) and appeared on Mastermind – where he chose Harry Potter as his specialist subject.
“Authoritative, insightful, entertaining and delightful company”
Really well received, and the delegates really enjoyed his talk. Many of them even quoted him or his ideas in later discussion so we think he definitely had the inspirational/thought provoking impact we had hoped for
The feedback from our debate on Europe last Wednesday has been hugely enthusiastic and immensely complimentary about our speakers!
It will come as no surprise to you, David that your contribution was singled out as particularly outstanding! Your deep understanding of international political events and your pithy humour were greatly appreciated by the delegates. Thank you so much for agreeing to participate in what can only be described as an unqualified success. You were immense and we are very grateful to you!
Friendly and approachable, David's speech was perfect for the occasion.
David spoke at our recent Annual Conference "Occupational Hygiene 2011" in Stratford Upon Avon. He presented our Warner lecture, which was the prime lecture of the conference.
May I take this opportunity on behalf of myself and everyone at the BOHS as well as the delegates to thank David for his fantastic efforts and speech at our conference. We received many positives comments about his speech. People were really motivated by his willingness to engage with our specialist subject and his offer to engage with us to take some of our concerns and activities further and into parliament.
David really made the effort to understand where we were coming from in the larger picture of health and safety in the workplace, he spent time speaking with us prior to the event to make sure he had the subject understood. He also used personal examples from his own personal life and work life to bring this to the floor.
We are grateful for David's time and will be making the most of his offer in the future. He was a warm and kind gentleman who brought a natural presence with him on stage.
Great speech and thanks again.
I am writing to thank you for your valuable contribution at the Home Ownership & Leasehold Management Conference last month. Your session was greatly appreciated and fitted well within a very successful conference programme. The event was really well received by delegates and the two days received excellent feedback.
Your session was marked at 95% good / very good by delegates – I am afraid I don't have specific comments about your session from the delegates.
The feedback from delegates about the whole event was very positive as well and we are extremely happy with the Conference. 99% of delegates marked the event overall as good or very good. 97% of delegates also marked the programme overall as good or very good.
If you have any thoughts or comments about the conference please feel free to email something to me, we welcome any feedback good or bad so we can improve the event in the future.
Thanks again for taking the time to come and speak for us; we really do appreciate the time you took out of your busy schedule to fit the conference in and I look forward to working with you again in the future.
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