Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. Johnson was the Member of Parliament for Hull West and Hessle from the 1997 general election. On 18 April 2017, following the announcement of the 2017 general election, Johnson said he would not be a candidate.\n', '

Born in London on 17 May 1950, the son of Stephen and Lillian Johnson, he was "orphaned" at the age of 13 when his mother died, his father having previously abandoned the family. Johnson was then in effect brought up by his older sister Linda when the two were assigned a council flat by their child welfare officer. Linda, then herself only 16, has since been recognised as the hero of Johnson\'s poignant 2013 memoir This Boy: A Memoir of a Childhood. He passed the eleven-plus exam and attended Sloane Grammar school in Chelsea, now part of Pimlico Academy, and left school at the age of 15. He then worked at Tesco before becoming a postman at 18. He was interested in music and joined two pop music bands. Johnson joined the Union of Communication Workers, becoming a branch official. He joined the Labour Party in 1971, although he considered himself a Marxist ideologically aligned with the Communist Party of Great Britain. A full-time union official from 1987, he became General Secretary of the union in 1992. By this time, however, as his memoir makes clear, he was more inclined towards the right wing of the Labour Party.\n', '

Before entering parliament Johnson was a member of Labour\'s National Executive Committee. During this time he was the only major union leader to support the abolition of Clause IV.\n', '

Return to Alan Johnson Autograph Profile