Alan Johnson was General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union before entering Parliament as a Labour MP for Hull West and Hessle in 1997. He served as Home Secretary, Health Secretary, and Education Secretary, in the Blair/Brown government. Until 20 January 2011, he was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. He retired as an MP before the 2017 general election after 20 years in cabinet.

A prolific author, he has written several biographies including his childhood memoirs (This Boy, Please Mr Postman, The Long and Winding Road, and In My Life – A Music Memoir) winning several accolades, including the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, the Orwell Prize, the National Book Club award for Best Biography and the Parliamentary Book Award for Best Memoir. Following his debut novel, The Late Train to Gipsy Hill (2021), and One of Our Ministers is Missing (2022), Death on the Thames (2024) is the third in the Detective Louise Mangan series. Fast-paced and thrilling!

Alan spent eight years on the BBC’s This Week with Andrew Neil and Michael Portillo. He now regularly appears on other programmes and channels. He has written widely for many magazines and papers, including The Guardian’s Book of the Day.

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