Blunkett describes 'madness and depression' caused by Quinn affair

David Blunkett has spoken for the first time about his emotional turmoil at the time of his resignation as Home Secretary and how he thought he might be "going mad".

Mr Blunkett, 60, who quit in December 2004, said his doomed affair with Kimberly Quinn and his determination to prove he was the father of their child had left him clinically depressed.

"I hadn't realised until I went back and listened to the tapes, just how dark things were, just how depressed I think I was.

"At one point, I really did think I was going mad. My whole world was collapsing around me. I was under the most horrendous pressure. I was barely sleeping and yet I was being asked to sign government warrants in the middle of the night."

He admits that he probably threw himself too much into his work. "I probably overdid it compared with colleagues ... in the early part of last year after my first resignation as Home Secretary I was probably clinically depressed. The doctor at the House of Commons recommended antidepressants, then therapy, but I wanted to get through it my own way, with the help of family and friends."

Mr Blunkett resigned in 2004 over claims that a visa application for the nanny of his lover Kimberly Quinn, the publisher of The Spectator, had been fast-tracked. Mr Blunkett denied the allegations.

After their split Mrs Quinn refused to admit he was the father and Mr Blunkett was forced into a controversial paternity battle.

Five months after resigning he was back in the Cabinet as Work and Pensions Secretary, but his frontbench career came to an end in November last year when he was forced to resign over lucrative appointments he accepted during his time out of office.

He failed to get approval before accepting a directorship with DNA Bioscience and came under pressure when it emerged that he had retained shares worth £15,000 after returning to office.

Mr Blunkett, speaking to the Daily Mail, expressed strong views on a range of issues from Iraq to the Labour leadership, revealing that the war had taken an "enormous personal toll" on Tony Blair.

He also admits that he and other friends of Mr Brown are urging him to broaden his circle of friends.

He also discloses for the first time that he regrets the controversial presentation of the intelligence dossier in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq which claimed Saddam possessed WMD.