Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson was born in Paddington, London and served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. As a young man he stacked shelves at Tesco before becoming a postman at 18. A full-time union official from 1987, he became General Secretary of the Union of Communication Workers in 1992.He was instrumental in the merger of the National Communications Union and the Union of Communication Workers in 1995 to form the Communications Workers Union (CWU).
As part of the company’s 500 year celebrations, Alan presented a BBC Four documentary looking at the rich history of the Post Office and Royal Mail. In the programme, he travels back in time to his old round and into the future at a giant automated sorting office. He is also given an exclusive tour of the Queen's private stamp collection and takes a ride on a Travelling Post Office.
