In this wide ranging conversation, Alan Johnson, the author and former UK government minister, will discuss his political career, his views on current political affairs and the prospects of a Labour government in the forthcoming general election with the award winning journalist, Stephen Walker.
Alan Johnson was General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union before entering Parliament as Labour MP for Hull West and Hessle in 1997. He 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.
His childhood memoir This Boy was published by Bantam Press on 9th May 2013. It won the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, and the Orwell Prize, Britain’s top political writing award. His second volume of memoirs, Please, Mister Postman, was published in September 2014 and won the National Book Club award for Best Biography. The final book in his memoir trilogy, The Long and Winding Road, was published in September 2016 and won the Parliamentary Book Award for Best Memoir.
Alan retired as an MP before the 2017 general election after 20 years as an MP.
A fourth memoir about his love of music (‘In My Life – A Music Memoir’) was published in 2018. His first novel, ‘The Late Train to Gipsy Hill’, appeared three years later, followed by ‘One of Our Ministers is Missing’, in September 2022. Another ‘Mangan’ thriller is due for publication in March 2024. He is currently writing a concise biography of Harold Wilson for Swift Press. Alan’s new thriller, ‘Death on the Thames’ is published in March.
Alan spent eight years on the BBC’s ‘This Week’ with Andrew Neil and Michael Portillo and appeared regularly with Steph McGovern on Channel 4’s ‘Steph’s Packed Lunch’. He has also been the agony uncle for Saga Magazine as well as reviewing books for various publications.
He was appointed Chancellor of the University of Hull in June 2023 and lives in East Yorkshire with his wife Carolyn.
Stephen Walker is an award winning journalist and author. He has covered the politics of Northern Ireland for over 30 years. As a documentary maker with Spotlight, and a BBC NI political correspondent he covered the Troubles, the Peace Process, the Good Friday Agreement and Brexit. He is the author of four critically acclaimed books. His most recent is “John Hume : The Persuader ” which is regarded as the definitive biography of the Nobel Laureate. It was an Irish Times bestseller at Christmas 2023.
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