Blunkett's former lover gives birth to a boy

THE FORMER lover of David Blunkett has given birth to a baby boy at a west London hospital, it emerged last night.

Kimberly Quinn, 44, the publisher of The Spectator , had the child by caesarean section at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington yesterday. Mother and baby were said to be doing well but Mr Quinn refused to comment at the family home in Mayfair.

The birth will mean that Mrs Quinn is now likely to face Mr Blunkett in court for a second paternity battle. Mr Blunkett believes the child is his. Mrs Quinn's first child William, now two, is already the subject of a paternity and access battle with Mr Blunkett.

At the end of last year, it was revealed Mrs Quinn began a three-year affair with Mr Blunkett, 57, two months after her marriage to Vogue publisher Stephen Quinn, 60, in 2001.

It later emerged she also had a short-lived affair with the broadcaster and Guardian sketch writer Simon Hoggart, 58 and had a relationship with a Labour peer, Sandy Leitch, before her marriage.

Shortly after news of her affair with Mr Blunkett became headline news, Mrs Quinn was admitted to St Mary's Hospital on doctor's orders after collapsing in a bathroom at home.

At the time, Mr Quinn said he feared the stress over revelations of her affair with the then Home Secretary and the disputed paternity of her two children could harm the unborn child.

Weeks later following an inquiry by Sir Alan Budd, the Home Secretary was forced to stand down amid allegations that he had fast-tracked a visa application for his lover's Filipina nanny Leoncia Casalme.

A court-ordered DNA test has reportedly proved beyond doubt that Mr Blunkett is William's father, meaning he will almost certainly be granted regular contact with the boy he calls "my youngest son".

It remains to be seen if Mrs Quinn's second child is to be Mr Blunkett's newest son.