DAVID BLUNKETT is back in the Cabinet just four months after he was forced to resign, the quickest comeback in recent political history.

Mr Blunkett had a spectacular fall from grace when his affair with a married woman was exposed, and during a messy battle over her son she accused Mr Blunkett, who was the Home Secretary at that time, of fast-tracking her nanny’s visa. His battle for access to the two-year-old boy is still going through the courts, even as Mr Blunkett was brought back into the Government by the Prime Minister yesterday.

David Miliband joins the Cabinet in a meteoric rise. Mr Miliband, 39, became an MP just four years ago. His selection as a Labour candidate came shortly before the 2001 election when the former MP for South Shields suddenly stood down. The Prime Minister made him wait just 11 months before bringing him into the Government, where his largely assured judgment ensured his rapid ascent.

Mr Blair is known for his loyalty to favoured ministers. The Prime Minister’s close adviser Peter Mandelson was out of office for 10 months before his return — he subsequently was forced to resign again. Estelle Morris was out for eight months and Harriet Harman for three years.

With Mr Blunkett, the Prime Minister showed his determination to have him back from the moment he quit. He said this week: “That is one of the most special people I have ever worked with in my life, and I want him back where he belongs as soon as possible.”

The inquiry by Sir Alan Budd into Mr Blunkett’s conduct during the visa affair was inconclusive as to his direct influence. Sir Alan said he had established “a chain of events linking Mr Blunkett to the change in the decision” on the nanny’s application, but had no direct proof of wrongdoing.

Mr Blunkett said this week that “I don’t believe I have done anything wrong” over the visa affair, and had spent the intervening months proving he deserved to be back in the Cabinet. As part of his comeback campaign he toured the country like a minister, visiting 50 seats. However, he refused to speak about his private life, declaring that all parties had decided from now on not to conduct their affairs through the press. “It is entirely private now and there is absolutely nothing that will be public,” he said.

His return to the Cabinet may be awkward: a new biography last year revealed that he had made a series of attacks on his fellow ministers.

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