He stayed in Leicester after graduating in 1963 to work at the
Imperial Typewriter Company. He became a lecturer at
Charles Keene College in 1968. He was elected to
Leicestershire County Council for the
Western Park division in
1993, and then to
Leicester City Council for the same ward in
1995. In 1997 Leicester City Council became a
unitary authority. In 2000 he became leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the city council. After the
2003 local election, the Liberal Democrats became the largest party on the council, and Blackmore became leader in May 2003, leading a Liberal Democrat/
Conservative coalition. In November 2004, Labour's Ross Willmott took over as leader in a minority Labour administration, but Blackmore returned as leader in May 2005 until the
2007 Leicester City Council election. Blackmore was
lord mayor of Leicester for 2009 to 2010. He stood down from the council in
2011. Blackmore was a Parliamentary candidate for the
Liberal Party on six occasions during the 1970s and 1980s. He stood in
Gainsborough (
1970,
February 1974,
October 1974 and
1979),
North Devon (
1983) and
Wansdyke (
1987). ==Personal life==