DVTimes

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004380693,00.html

THIS is David Blunkett?s secret love ? married US beauty Kimberly Fortier.

The 57-year-old Home Secretary has known brunette Kimberly, 43, since 2001.

Cheeky Kimberly introduced herself to David Blunkett by jokily pretending she was tall and blonde.

The Home Secretary and the stunning married American first met at a dinner party three years ago.

And in a recent interview brunette Kimberly told how she broke the ice. She admitted: ?I did try to convince him I was tall and blonde.?

Mr Blunkett was captivated by her sense of humour ? and the couple forged a deep friendship which developed into a love affair.

The Labour minister?s partner is publisher of up-market Tory magazine The Spectator.

A pal said last night: ?Both Kimberly and David Blunkett are highly intelligent and educated people.

?You can understand why David has fallen for her. She always has a lot to say and says it in an articulate way.?

Mum-of-one Kimberly sat next to Mr Blunkett, who has his guide dog Sadie with him at all times, at a Buckingham Palace state banquet for President Bush in November 2003.

Our sister paper the News of the World revealed their secret affair yesterday ? and said Mr Blunkett and Kimberly had a heart-to-heart talk last Wednesday because the relationship had reached a crisis point.

During Mr Blunkett?s rare breaks from a huge workload the couple have romantic getaways at his Derbyshire cottage.

The News of the World also told how they had regular meetings at the Sheffield Brightside MP?s house in central London.

The Home Secretary has three sons by ex-wife Ruth whom he divorced in 1990 after 20 years.

One insider said: ?The future of the relationship is unresolved. They are torn. It?s a far from perfect situation but there?s a deep love. They?re finding it terribly hard to deal with.

?Neither of them knows what the future will hold. It?s actually a very, very sad situation for all concerned.

?The relationship isn?t going any further forward ? but neither is it over. Like any affair it?s an extremely complicated situation. Other people?s lives are affected.?

Another source said: ?The meetings have always been at his place, normally in London and very occasionally, Derbyshire.

?He has one of the busiest diaries in Government but when time allows there are romantic moments.

?None of this rests easily with David. He has a deep conscience.

?But this is no casual fling. He?s totally in love with her.

?She?s an incredibly bright and vivacious woman. They?re on the same plane emotionally and intellectually.?

The friend added: ?He wants to be with her in a normal, loving relationship.

?They can?t do the things lovers do, like going out for dinner or strolling in the streets. They have to hide away. But until now she has refused to leave her husband for him.

?Still, you can?t hold a three-year relationship with someone against all the odds without having a huge reservoir of love and affection to get you through the difficult times.?

The Spectator is edited by Tory MP Boris Johnson and Kimberly?s work there would have brought her in close proximity to Westminster.

But despite working for the Tory mag, Kimberly has described herself as a ?a nice Left-wing girl?.

She interviewed Robin Cook for The Spectator when he was Foreign Secretary and broke the story of his affair with his Commons secretary, Gaynor Regan.

Kimberly originally hails from Los Angeles and is said to have native American and Jewish blood.

She is highly intelligent and was educated at the world famous Vassar University in New York state in the early 1980s.

She took a degree in British politics and social history and has worked at a number of magazines, including women?s favourite Cosmopolitan.

At another magazine, Woman?s Day, she wrote a column called the Neighbours Column, which has household hints for women.

She says of her time there: ?I was a New York debutante, who didn?t even know how to use a washing machine, and so I was really a poor choice. But I learned a lot because I received more than 1,000 readers? letters a day.?

Kimberly has also worked for a trade magazine called Gifts and Decorative Accessories.

In 1987 she married and moved to Britain in the same week.

In her time at The Spectator she has seen the magazine transformed and a massive boost in circulation to more than 60,000.

The couple were apart last night, Mr Blunkett and his three sons on holiday in Europe and Kimberly abroad elsewhere.

Mr Blunkett said at the weekend: ?After my divorce I decided not to talk again about my private life. I have stuck to that principle over the years, whatever the pressure to confirm or deny a particular story and defended all politicians? right to a degree of privacy in their private life.

?I am adhering to this approach now. My personal life is my business and has never compromised my jobs as an MP and Cabinet minister.?

A Downing Street spokesman added: ?The Home Secretary?s private life is a private matter. The Prime Minister thinks he?s doing an excellent job.?

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