Why did David Blunkett refuse to become a campaigner on disability issues?

David Blunkett said he never wanted his blindness to be the uppermost thing about him. When disability campaigners asked why he was not campaigning, he replied that holding a senior job was itself his contribution, an example to young people, parents and employers. As the minister responsible for disability in the first four years of the Blair government, he told his team it was everyone's job, not just his.

• Blunkett said that as a boy he heard a mother say they would cross the road because a blind boy was coming, which he put down to misunderstanding blindness.
• Blunkett said he had been so robust and pig-headed over the years that it was hard for anyone to pity him.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Rest Is Politics (2026-10-31). Read the whole episode summary →

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