Alan Johnson

The Rt. Hon. Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He has been Labour Party member of Parliament for Hull West and Hessle since 1997, and was junior minister at the Department for Education and Skills. He entered the Cabinet in September 2004 as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, following the resignation of Andrew Smith. After the 2005 election he moved to become Secretary of State for Productivity, Energy and Industry, a post which replaced the DTI but it was shortly reverted to the old name Secretary of State for Trade and Industry after complaints were made about the new name.

Before entering Parliament he was on Labour's National Executive Committee, and had been General Secretary of the CGWU.

There have been many reports that Alan Johnson was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain from 1975–1983.