Exclusive: Alan Johnson interview

Published 06 June 2009

A preview of our exclusive interview with Alan Johnson, the new Home Secretary and the man tipped to replace Gordon Brown

In his first major interview since Gordon Brown's dramatic cabinet reshuffle, Alan Johnson, the new Home Secretary and the front runner to succeed Brown, talks to GMTV's political editor Gloria De Piero about the leadership, the future of the Labour Party and why he hopes to see James Purnell return to the cabinet.

Pick up the New Statesman on Thursday 11 June to read the full, detailed interview with Johnson.

On the leadership: "I think it would be wrong to challenge Gordon. He is the best man for the job but I'm not saying there are no circumstances in which I wouldn't be a candidate for the leadership.

"I can't look at you in the eye and say hand on heart I'll never be leader of the Labour Party. I can't say that there are no circumstances in which I wouldn't run for the leadership but I can look at you hand on heart and say that I do not believe I could do the job better than Gordon Brown. I don't believe anyone could.

"I can look at you hand on heart and say its never been my ambition to be the Prime Minister. I'm not driven by that kind of ambition. And when Gordon steps down after 10 years of leadership I'll be too old anyway.

"I don't do false modesty. I think I've got skills but ... I'm realistic enough to see that there's someone there who could do the job better. If I didn't think there was someone there who could do the job better then I'd be taking a different view."

On James Purnell: "I think he's wrong. I think it was a mistake. I think it was discourteous. I'm a friend of James. He was a big supporter of mine for the deputy leadership and I think he's a tremendous talent that we've lost from government and it's such a waste that he's gone to the backbenches but to do so in such a way was wrong.

"Gordon has a record of bringing people back in who are not thought to share the same political outlook as him and as James is so talented and as time heals lots of wounds, I'd like to see him back in a Gordon Brown cabinet at some stage."

On Gordon Brown: "This Party needs to get behind its leader. This Party needs to get this out of their system. There are things that Gordon needs to obviously do to react to this. Of course backbenchers, PLP members, feel that they are not sufficiently engaged, they are not listened to for whatever reason."

On Alistair Darling: "I'm pleased that Darling is still in the same job. Alistair has done really well."

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1 comment from readers

old tribune
07 June 2009 at 15:37

It is clear from Alan Johnson's comments on The Politics Show that there will be no change on ID Cards or attacks on our unwritten constitution. It is now a simple issue - to get rid of ID Cards, get rid of Labour. Gordon Brown and his ministers are incapable of listening or changing their dogmatic views.

They cannot argue that we should vote Labour because their policies on Health, Education, the Economy, etc. are better than Tory policies, since Alan Johnson just made the next general election a single issue election. He said ID Cards were in the manifesto (at the last election) and were now a fact. So if you voted Labour for any other reasons than ID Cards - even though Labour played down their ID Card policy - you still gave them a mandate for ID Cards.

Roy Hattersly, Neil Kinnock and Ken Livingstone are demeaning Old Labour by propping up a right-wing prime minister like Gordon Brown. What common purpose do they see in his anti-democratic agenda and his authoritarian attitude?

If you don't want ID Cards or other attacks on civil liberties, you have to vote Conservative or Liberal Democrat (any other parties would not remove Labour under our current electoral system).