London ? British Cabinet minister David Blunkett, who overcame blindness and humble beginnings to reach high office, was forced to resign Wednesday for the second time in less than a year – a major embarrassment for Prime Minister Tony Blair who had strongly backed his scandal-prone friend.

The latest controversy comes only months after Blunkett quit as home secretary in December following a messy love affair with a married American magazine publisher, Kimberly Quinn.

The affair made him a target for satire – inspiring a recent play and a TV drama. But it also shattered his political reputation, after it was revealed he gave Quinn a government voucher for rail travel and fast-tracked a visa application for her nanny.

On Wednesday, Blunkett acknowledged he had breached ministerial guidelines by taking lucrative corporate positions during his brief spell out of office and that his job as work and pensions secretary had become untenable.

Blair’s office said Cabinet Office minister John Hutton would replace Blunkett as head of the department of work and pensions – a high profile and challenging post as the government seeks to overhaul Britain’s unemployment and disability benefits systems.