Agenda Setters 2005: Where are they now... David Blunkett

As we count down to silicon.com's sixth annual Agenda Setters poll of tech's 50 most influential individuals, it is time to look back at those individuals who held top 10 positions in 2004. Today we catch up with the former Home Secretary, David Blunkett, who's had quite a year.

Every year there are those individuals who are a safe bet to freefall from the Agenda Setters list. Step forward David Blunkett, the former UK Home Secretary.

Blunkett attracted widespread criticism and controversy for his UK biometric ID card scheme but it was scandal in his private life which ultimately cost him his job.

Blunkett attracted widespread criticism and controversy for his UK biometric ID card scheme but it was scandal in his private life which ultimately cost him his job.

He was forced to resign following a very public affair with Kimberly Quinn, the publisher of The Spectator, which gave rise to serious accusations that Blunkett had abused his position of power to secure a visa for Quinn's nanny.

Blunkett also became embroiled in a failed paternity and custody dispute over Quinn's child.

In Blunkett's place now is Home Secretary Charles Clarke, who continues to push on with plans for a nationwide rollout of ID cards, although fierce criticism among civil libertarians, fraud experts, technologists and the general public fails to abate.

Blunkett meanwhile, as a long term member of Tony Blair's inner sanctum, made a fairly swift return to a cabinet post in the less high-profile role of work and pensions secretary following the General Election in May 2005.

Despite a high-profile email scandal which rocked the department under its former head last year, it's not a position which comes into contact with too many Agenda Setting technology issues.

His day job will bring him into contact with Stephen Timms, the former e-minister but such meetings will likely be the closest Blunkett gets to a brush with technology - and thus we feel fairly certain he will not be named an Agenda Setter in the IT industry this year.

silicon.com's Agenda Setters panel, made up again of CIOs, analysts, VCs, consultants, lawyers, academics and other experts, convenes in September at our London offices with the results revealed at the end of the month. If you want to pass on your comments for our experts - about David Blunkett or any other contender - drop us an email at editorial@silicon.com.