It’s perhaps a bit too soon to to form any judgements about Alan Johnson, MP for Hull West and Hessle, because he was appointed Secretary of State for Health only in June 2007 as part of new Prime minister Gordon Brown’s first cabinet.
An interesting profile of him from 2004 can be found in the New Statesman. According to this, Johnson had humble origins, and became a union militant. He was promised a safe seat by New Labour leader Tony Blair for the 1997 election. He rose steadily through the government ranks - Trade and Industry and Education - before becoming Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. A bit of a poisoned chalice really, given the farcical Child Support Agency and the national pensions scandal which are both within that Department’s remit.
The website TheyWorkForYou.com describes what he’s been doing in Parliament, and the interests he has declared. According to the site Johnson is below average for the number of debates he has spoken in and for voting in Parliament, but he speaks clearly and interestingly uses a lot of alliteration in his speeches (which means he is fond of sound bites).
Anyway, perhaps anything’s better than the plainly bonkers former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt.
