Alan Arthur Johnson

Biography

Alan Johnson was re-elected MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle in May 2010 with a majority of 5,740.

Alan Johnson was born in May 1950 and educated at Sloane Grammar School, Chelsea. He became a postman in London in 1968 and at the same time joined the Union of Communication Workers.

In 1969 he transferred to Slough in Berkshire. He was elected to the Branch Committee in 1973 and became Chairman of the Slough Branch in 1976. Alan was elected to the National Executive Council of the Union of Communication Workers in 1981.

In 1987, Alan became a full-time Officer of the UCW. He became the youngest General Secretary in the history of the UCW when he was elected to the post in January 1992.

Alan served on the General Council of the TUC and was a member of the National Executive Committee. He was also a member of the World Executive of Postal, Telegraph and Telephone International to which the UCW was affiliated.

When the Union of Communication Workers and the National Communication Union merged in January 1995, Alan became Joint General Secretary.

He was elected Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle on 1st May 1997, and made his maiden speech about the problems facing trawlermen.

Alan served on the Trade and Industry Select Committee until he was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the treasury in December 1997. A year later he became PPS to the Paymaster General. Alan was promoted to the position of Minister for Competitiveness at the Department for Trade and Industry in the summer of 1999.

Following the 2001 General Election, Alan was promoted to being Minister of State for Employment Relations and Regions at the DTI. Industry was added to his portfolio in 2002.

In the reshuffle of June 2003, Alan was appointed the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Higher and Further Education at the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).

On September 8th 2004 Alan was asked to sit on the cabinet taking on the role of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

After the 2005 election Alan became the Secretary of State for The Department of Trade and Industry.

In the 2006 reshuffle, Alan became the Secretary of State for Education and Skills.

On June 27th Gordon Brown became the 74th British Prime Minister. When Gordon Brown decided upon his new cabinet he entrusted the Department of Health to Alan. He did not stand in the Labour leadership election of 2010 but was appointed as shadow chancellor by Ed Miliband. He resigned after a few months in the role and returned to the backbenches.

Constituency

Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle

Twitter

Constituency Address

Goodwin Resource Centre, Icehouse Road, Hull, HU3 2HQ

Constituency Tel

01482 219211

Date of Birth

17 May 1950

Email

johnsona@parliament.uk

Party

Labour

Personal Website

http://www.alanjohnson.org/

Westminster Address

House of Commons, London, SW1A OAA

Westminster Tel

020 7219 1305