BLUNKETT SEEKS PATERNITY

David Blunkett is reported to have launched a legal challenge to establish whether he is the father of his former lover's children.

The Home Secretary is said to want to take responsibility for the children, if they are proved to be his.

The woman he is alleged to have had an affair with, Kimberly Fortier, has a two-year-old son and is expecting a second child in February.

The couple are reported to have begun a three-year affair shortly after Ms Fortier married in 2001.

She is said to have ended her relationship with the Home Secretary to try to save her marriage with Stephen Quinn.

Mr Blunkett is thought to have written to Ms Fortier's solicitors demanding the right to prove his paternity, without success.

She is understood to be reluctant to co-operate.

Mr Quinn, 60, had a vasectomy reversed in order to have children with Miss Fortier.

It is assumed that DNA tests would should who was the father of Ms Fortier's young children.

A source said Mr Blunkett is convinced he is the father and wants contact rights and to contribute financially.

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