20 Questions With Alan Johnson

Alan Johnson left school at 15 but went on to be a Secretary of State in five departments in the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown: Work and Pensions, Trade, Education, Health and the Home Office. Many think he'd have made a brilliant Prime Minister, but instead he left politics and has become a multiple award-winning author, writing memoirs and now novels. In other lives he was a budding pop star, a postman and a trade unionist. In the first episode of 20 Questions, Johnson talks to me about his life, Labour, Keir Starmer, The Beatles, writing, how he unwinds and why he doesn't hate Tories.