Senior British minister David Blunkett resigned on Wednesday, ripping a hole in Prime Minister Tony Blair’s team months before an expected general election. Sky Television reported that Education Secretary Charles Clarke would replace Blunkett, whose law and order remit ensures a busy run-up ahead of an expected May election. Blunkett’s resignation follows weeks of allegations that he abused his position as Home Secretary (interior minister) to fast-track a visa for the nanny of his former lover. An inquiry into that allegation has yet to report but Blunkett said on Wednesday the visa process had been inadvertently accelerated. Pressure had mounted on Blunkett —— a staunch ally of Blair who is known for his forthright views —— in past days following criticism levelled at fellow ministers in a biography. A spokesman for Blunkett confirmed that his boss had quit. Blunkett was crucial to Blair’s centre-left government, in charge of security and anti-terrorism policies. Blunkett, blind since birth and routinely accompanied by his guide dog Sadie at the House of Commons, has failed to escape the spotlight following comments he made about a raft of ministers in a biography. He said Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had left the Home Office in a mess and called other ministers ‘‘soft’’ and ‘‘weak’’.
