Kimberly Quinn

London, Dec. 19: David Blunkett?s former lover Kimberly Quinn says it was never her intention to force the former home secretary from office.

?I wasn?t after revenge at all,? the publisher of The Spectator told friends yesterday. ?All I wanted him to do was leave me alone.?

In her first comments since leaving hospital on Friday night, Quinn has also disclosed to friends her shock and turmoil at Blunkett?s resignation. She says that she was traumatised after he quit last Wednesday and had a sleepless night. ?I never thought it would lead to this,? she said.

Among her concerns is that, freed from the responsibilities of office, Blunkett will now have more time to devote to the paternity claim that he is pursuing to be recognised as the father of her two-year-old son, William.

Although two private DNA tests indicate that William is Blunkett?s child, Quinn is determined that he should be raised as the son of her husband Stephen Quinn, the publisher of Vogue.

Quinn, who is in the late stages of pregnancy and had been in hospital in a distressed state until Friday evening, wanted Blunkett to delay the legal action until after the birth of her second child, due in February.

She had been dreading the possibility that Blunkett might resign. ?The notion that she was gleeful when he went is utterly ridiculous,? said a male friend. ?She?s actually been in a terrible state, not sleeping properly, very emotional.?

For almost three weeks Quinn has been in hospital in London, where her health and that of her unborn child were being closely monitored. She even changed hospitals earlier this month, having been tracked down by journalists.

She is apparently making good progress and has regained weight lost after weeks of anxiety about the future of her family.

Blunkett began his legal campaign following the end last summer of his three-year affair with Quinn. ?She is concerned that having left the government, he will have more time to devote to his fight to be recognised as William?s father ? and she definitely doesn?t want that,? said the friend.

?Also, out of the government, he may feel less constrained in what he can say and do. She is worried.? Quinn has insisted to friends she was never driven by vengeance, and never wanted to force him out.

Fresh twist

In a surprise twist to the saga that led to Blunkett?s swift fall from grace, a journalist today admitted he also had an affair with Quinn, adds Reuters. Simon Hoggart, wine correspondent at the Spectator initially dismissed claims of the fling published in a Sunday newspaper. But Hoggart, also a columnist for the Guardian, later issued a statement confirming a sexual relationship with her.

However, he insisted he could not be the father of her two-year-old child, or her unborn baby.