Alan Johnson left school at 15 with no qualifications. He became a postman at 18, joining the Union on his first day.

He worked his way through the ranks to become General Secretary of the Union of Communication Workers and then joint General Secretary of the CWU, which he was instrumental in creating.

Alan entered Parliament in 1997 as MP for Hull West & Hessle and was promoted to Employment Relations Minister in1999, where he introduced legislation on trade union rights, flexible working and work-life balance.

In 2004, Alan became the first former trade union leader since the 1960s to sit in the Cabinet. As Secretary of State for Work and Pensions he highlighted the scandal of women’s pensions, and set in train a consensual approach to welfare reform.

He became Trade and Industry Secretary in 2005, where he negotiated the public sector pensions deal protecting the rights of existing staff and outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

As Secretary of State for Education & Skills since May 2006 Alan’s priority is to tackle the social class gap. He has introduced proposals to transform the life chances of children in care, raise the education leaving age to 18 and provide one-to-one tuition for state school pupils.

Read my statement on why trade union members should vote for me

Read my biography

Read my responses to the UnionsTogether Election Survey

View my UnionsTogether TV Interview