Alan Johnson
The Guardian
What holds, and what fails, under pressure, standards and accountability.
Alan Johnson is a seasoned politician with a background in trade unions and government, known for his thoughtful approach to leadership. This interview reveals his commitment to social justice and the values that shaped his political career, highlighting his role as a stabilizing force in turbulent times.
“Yeah, but Derek Wallace set out a 10-year plan, and we're five years through, and what Derek Wallace also said is that there are notable improvements in healthcare, notable, and that our direction is going in the right way.”
“I'm fascinated by Peeps. When I was at Department for Education and I had to walk across to the House of Commons, I did what I called my Peeps walk, I walked alongside Westminster Abbey exactly as Peeps would have done, I walked past St.”
“We then got a child welfare officer, wonderful Mr Pepper, and because we'd had this long period, where Linda had been looking after me when my mum was in hospital, he said, look, Linda is perfectly capable, though she was only fifteen, keep them together, and Linda really battled for me not to go into a home, and Mr Pepper won the day, an…”
“I didn't have any ambitions at all to do anything other than Three things with the Union, lifting the postman and postwomen. I was a postman, their pay was appalling, they worked six days a week. I wanted to save the post office from privatisation, which was being mooted.”
The Rest Is Politics: Leading — 101. Alan Johnson: The Prime Minister We Never Had? (Part 1)
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