Blunkett: Dramatic comeback

David Blunkett has completed a rapid political rehabilitation taking the job of secretary of state for work and pensions in the new Labour government.

Blunkett takes the position from Alan Johnson in what has been a wider than expected reshuffle from the prime minister.

Johnson moves to a brand new role and will be in charge of productivity, energy and industry.

Blunkett was forced out of government in December last year over allegations he fast-tracked a visa for his lover's nanny,

Having spent just four months on the backbenches, Tony Blair clearly felt his ally earned his return to office with his hard work on the election campaign trail.

Blunkett was used strategically in working class seats where the Conservatives and BNP were threatening to exploit crime and immigration fears.

A tough operator who has a track record on delivering Downing Street targets such as improving basic school standards and reducing asylum claims, he also appeals to traditional blue collar workers in a way few of his colleagues can.

The Sheffield MP was education secretary in Labour's third term in power before moving to the Home Office in 2001.

Before that he was a firebrand council leader in the 1980s who moved rapidly to the right following his election to parliament.

But question marks remain over whether Blunkett has sufficiently put his private life behind him.

He is still involved in a bitter custody dispute over his son with married former lover Kimberley Quinn, publisher of the right-wing Spectator magazine.

Blunkett has also shown little remorse, insisting that he did nothing wrong other than allow the impression that he may have influenced the visa application.