BRITAIN: David Blunkett had a three- year affair with Kimberly Quinn, an American-born magazine publisher married to the Irish-born multi-millionaire Conde Nast publisher, Stephen Quinn (60).
It was a relationship which Mr Blunkett (57) hoped would bring him the happiness to match the success of his political career. But the relationship with Mrs Quinn (44), publisher of the Spectator, ended in acrimony.
He claims he is the father of her two-year-old son and the boy's unborn brother. The heavily pregnant Mrs Quinn, who had been known as Fortier, recently began using her married name.
Mrs Quinn met Mr Blunkett at a dinner party in August 2001, two months after she married Stephen Quinn at a Westminster register office.
The pair are thought to have been instantly attracted to each other, sharing a frank sense of humour. It is claimed she courted Mr Blunkett in a blunt manner, telling him she had "always wondered what it was like to sleep with a blind man".
Mrs Quinn was known to other Cabinet members was used to life among leading figures in politics. Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook turned to her to give an interview when his marriage broke up amid revelations about his affair with his future wife, Gaynor Regan.
Her ease in the company of decision-makers led her first husband, US banker Michael Fortier, to warn she "collected interesting, powerful men".
She joined Conde Nast in the mid-1990s, when Mr Quinn was publishing director for the company's GQ title.She ended the relationship with Mr Blunkett this summer.