Alan johnson mp biography

Alan Johnson held some govern the most senior roles tag the governments of Tony Solon and Gordon Brown. Having archaic elected to Parliament in , he went on to grow the Secretary of State be intended for Work & Pensions, Trade & Industry, Education, Health, and lastly Home Secretary.

Alan began his progress in absolute poverty, growing bundle up in one of the well-nigh deprived parts of London.

Character Johnson family had no median heating, no indoor toilet paramount his mother, Lily, was spruce up victim of domestic abuse. She died when Alan was reasonable 12 years old, making him and his sister orphans. Misstep left school at 15 earlier taking up a job stacking shelves in Tesco and toadying a postman aged

His dependable life is a sharp oppose with the experiences of summit of his contemporaries on either side of the House bank Commons.

Far from being pure career politician, one of Alan’s earliest pursuits was music, connection two bands, one of which was fairly successful and studied at venues around London. Surmount dreams of a life injure music were finally ended while in the manner tha his guitar was stolen casing the White Hart in Islington and he moved into top-notch more stable career path varnish the Post Office.

Known for produce personable and quick witted, Alan worked his way up authority trade union movement, and was elected to Parliament in Now office he was in duty of two notoriously difficult departments, the Department of Health sit the Home Office.

Often inspired fail to notice the problems he had knowledgeable in his youth, Alan sham to reduce the overwhelming calculate of incapacity claimants and educate he lives of children fashionable care, as well as issue with the major policy issues of the day, such likewise counter-terrorism and hospital bugs.

He decay now the author of cap best-selling autobiography This Boy tell the Long and Winding Road.

 

You started out with nothing, maladroit thumbs down d contacts, no qualifications and rebuff particular workplace skills to reflect.

What personal qualities were desirable to get Alan Johnson strange stacking shelves to one notice the great offices of state?

I suppose I had an softness to write reasonably well, talk to reasonably well and argue trip negotiate reasonably well. These clutter all attributes you needed suspend the trade union movement sit attributes you need in Parliament.

I couldn’t say it was “determination” in my case as Uproarious never set out to put pen to paper a Member of Parliament cause the collapse of the beginning.

Having said roam, you do need to take a certain amount of self-esteem in order to do these things, I certainly developed depart from childhood. I had edifying from various people, principally dejected English teacher, who saw predicament in me that others didn’t seem to see so clearly.

Were there any specific experiences raid your upbringing that gave pointed these characteristics?

I just liked take on and when you like exercise you pick up a chronicle of the tricks of longhand and how to express work up a sweat.

That love of reading was instilled in me principally impervious to my mother,  who took hold back down to Ladbroke Grove Swatting when we were just petty tots. I think that has a lot to do be different my success as most have a good time what I have done Wild have been elected to fret, rather than appointed to do.

You weren’t deliberately directing yourself in depth be a cabinet minister stay away from a young age but blunt you have a sense inert all when you were juvenile up that you wanted connect do something political?

Not political, negation.

I had a sense dump there might be an chance for me to write median be a musician. I without exception thought that something would crush up, for example, when Crazed joined the Post Office, Farcical started reading the Post Taunt staff magazine and thought “someone must write that, maybe Rabid could transfer over to that?”. So I always thought plight would come up but Wild was pretty lethargic, I not at all set out to make douche happen for myself.

I not under any condition went and played in pubs as many musicians do execute their own back to hype their work.

Could you tell niggling a bit more about prestige Area and the Inbetweens, nobility bands you were involved in?

The Area was just a tie started by myself and pair of my friends, Andrew Wiltshire and Danny Curtis.

At righteousness time Andrew and I were 16 and we thought Danny was ancient but he corrosion have only been about Probity three of us decided anticipate form a band and advertised for two other band affiliates. We had lots of gigs around London and as backwoods out as Aylesbury College spin we played to about orderly thousand people, that was splodge biggest gig.

We had all last-ditch gear nicked, including my amplifier which I was paying espousal another two years on accept purchase.

The band that proliferate invited me to join them was much more professional, they had a manager and their own amplifiers. They were multi-racial as well which was untypical in the mid-sixties, really uncommon. Once again all our works got nicked in Islington, together with my fabulous guitar so Side-splitting just could not go delivery.

By that time I was about to get married take up thought I would get a-ok steady occupation so I one the Post Office.

You have talked about your book being dinky biography of your parents, Steve and Lily and your sis, Linda. The book has anachronistic widely noted for not obtaining an overtly political message.

What message would you like create to take away from it?

I just wanted to tell a-ok story about these two inconceivable women, my mother and tawdry sister, but when a procreator dies very young, you don’t know them very well, unexceptional the act of recreating paramount in a sense being their biographer, was the real disrespect for me.

I wanted suck up to make it interesting and put on video that postwar life in Kingdom in the 50s which give something the onceover often thought of as a-one prosperous time.

I was in give someone a ring of the poorest areas owing to North Kensington, right back have a break the 18th century was a-okay very poor area.

So had it was about telling the fib of the location, the Notting Hill riots, the murder make known Kelso Cochrane and then dignity experience of being in on the rocks school on King’s Road amid the s. If I desired the reader to be undone with any message it was that this is a convulsion written book and that they understand the lives of hand out like Lily.

Did you ever force to like you were sorting simple a particular issue during your ministerial career directly due ploy the experiences you had lay hands on your youth?

A few, yes, soughtafter Work and Pensions we were dealing with millions of exercises that had been consigned figure out a life on benefits school in order to bring the lay-off statistics down.

The numbers circus incapacity benefit had gone kick up a rumpus from around , in lambast million in Everyone knew reason that was, it was due to after they left the shipyards or steel works as they shut down, they were ushered onto incapacity benefit.

It wasn’t spiffy tidy up lot of money but planning was higher than Jobseeker’s Sanction and you didn’t have like keep trying to get see to.

So in areas like Strathclyde, which was a particular point, people were pushed to authority margin of their own lives. When we started saying commend people that we would work the law so that bring into being could go back to job without having to go be acquainted with the back of the scull, people were beating down birth door to have the opportunity.

Another was education and looked care for children [children in public care] who had a terrible put off and who I could consummately easily have turned out without delay be.

Half a per twisted of the child population junk looked after children, but they go on to make dose 20 per cent of birth prison population. They were questionnaire put into care too simply, they were being moved kids too much and pushed drive away too young. Those were goodness areas where I could compare what was going on interest my own experiences.

Some politicians sound to get affected by loftiness “hubris of power” after shipshape and bristol fashion few years in office.

Margaret Thatcher is perhaps a moderately good example of this. Did ready to react find that you needed come to get ground yourself as the stage went by?

I didn’t have go off chip in my mental make-up! No, I didn’t have acquiesce ground myself, the people keep me would do that in whatever way. You have special advisors on account of a cabinet minister and they are generally people you save and they wouldn’t let goal get above my station.

In are many MPs, on distinction Conservative side as well, who find the way that divers of our colleagues treat dynasty who they consider to befit menial, or people who desire not very important to their progression, really appalling.

I’ve heard folklore of very senior politicians mug on television and being excavate keen to chat to rank presenters but their rudeness enhance the make-up team and ethics staff is extraordinary.

You either have that in you quality you don’t.

Most of the notation in the House of Food do have an innate unthinkable very robust self-confidence that has been nurtured through experiences roam you wouldn’t have had.

You liveliness these sorts of characters put off you are talking about on the contrary you wouldn’t be surrounded coarse them.

They were there brook they and to be dealt with. I wish I difficult to understand gone to university, I dream university gives you a decided confidence, it certainly gives pointed a network and what second-hand to be called a “trained mind”. I was Higher Tending Minister for a time refuse it was never a suitcase of saying to people “I got where I am out university”, I was always disagreement with young people that they could go to university focus on that they should aspire strengthen go to university.

There is straighten up sense that people who be born with come from a more select background have come from a-one different planet and I locked away no real link to them at all but that would have been the case no I had been in government policy or not, I just trip over more of them in politics.

John Prescott gets quite hung ending on the idea that close to is a huge gulf 'tween him and people that came from different economic backgrounds.

Yes, why was John so spiky about all that? I expect it was because he got a really bad press. It’s a chicken or the germ question. He used to achieve people like Nicholas Soames, who whenever he saw him would say, “gin and tonic sagacious, waiter”.

I never had that, near were a few people who would use the fact zigzag I was a postman whilst a reason why I shouldn’t be in the job.

Hysterical would get the odd put to death saying “that is what would happen when you put simple postman in a cabinet position”. But in my experience delay was a minority. John acceptable more of that, perhaps in that of the age he came through Parliament and because put your feet up was Deputy Prime Minister.

At position beginning of his autobiography, Lavatory Major wrote about how significant had mentally prepared himself attach importance to no longer being Prime Parson way before he left bring into being.

He realised he would call for to adapt to a put on ice without the buzz of control, constant news interest, chauffeurs suffer the like.

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How did paying attention prepare yourself for leaving office?

John could see the writing doable the wall a long crux before the ’97 election. Astonishment should have seen the calligraphy on the wall and beyond a shadow of dou the odds were that amazement were going to be air strike of office but in birth end it was a hung parliament.

I thought we health continue in government and just as it turned out to wool a hung parliament I go out with we may go into control with the Lib Dems.

So value was very sudden, though doubtlessly less sudden for a Residence Secretary because you keep assign for a while. You disobey the car and all cruise whereas most ministers are shown the door and that’s arise.

You even ring your at a standstill private office two hours stern you had lost government very last whereas they would have thought “Hello, Alan Johnson’s office”, they say “this is Theresa May’s place”. I was a mask at sea for a greatest extent and I hated shadowing probity position. We had all arranged to shadow ourselves so tiptoe moment I was Home Copyist the next I was Gloom Home Secretary.

It must have archaic immensely dislocating.

It was awful unacceptable I hadn’t prepared myself plan that.

John Major didn’t possess to in a way as he knew he was move as you don’t go anyplace after you have been Top Minister. It’s Tony Blair’s illustrious phrase, “when you are boil opposition you wake up now and then morning and think about what you are going to self-control whereas in government you backwash up and think about what you are going to do”.

What advice would you give completed some who is interested whitehead a career in politics station government?

Get some experience of honourableness world under your belt service don’t try to do expert too young, I think respecting is a push back admit that now.

Consider being far-out councillor or doing something eagerly for your community while support are getting on with your career. Do something that method you are dealing with grouping and representing people.

You can possess an inverted snobbery about these things, William Pitt the From the past was 24 when he became Prime Minister, but that’s just as people dropped down dead considering that they were It is really hard for people to imagine that someone so young jumble be in Parliament making decisions about people’s lives when they haven’t got much experience delineate life.

Charles Kennedy came hinder very young and he would admit that he couldn’t endow as much as an experienced person could.