Alan Johnson MP

Home Secretary, and MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle

Alan Johnson began his political career when he joined the Union of Communication Workers whilst working as a postman in the late 1960s. He was elected to the National Executive Council of the union in 1981, and became the youngest General Secretary in the union's history in 1992.

In 1997, Johnson was elected MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, a position he still holds. In 1999 he was appointed to his first ministerial post at the Department of Trade and Industry and became Minister for Higher Education in 2003. He was appointed to the Cabinet in 2004, replacing Andrew Smith as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and in 2005 was appointed Secretary of State for Productivity, Energy and Industry. He formed part of Gordon Brown's first Cabinet in 2007, taking the role of Secretary of State for Health, and was appointed as Home Secretary in June 2009, holding the role until the 2010 general election. Although widely expected to run for the Labour leadership following Gordon Brown’s resignation, he has publicly backed David Miliband for the position and he is also a strong supporter of electoral reform.