Commons bruiser who won PM's trust

Ex-union boss Alan Johnson won his spurs by steamrolling university topup fees through stormy Commons committees.

Tough, streetwise and fiercely loyal to Tony Blair, he started out as a postman and rose through the ranks of the Communication Workers Union.

Born in London, he was orphaned at 12 and lived with his 15-year-old sister in a Battersea council flat. He went to Sloane grammar school, Chelsea, and left without going to university.

He has described his bitter-sweet feelings at delivering university acceptance letters to houses and hearing whoops of joy from youngsters more fortunate.

Instead he threw himself into union activities, where he was noticed as an articulate organiser. Battling militants and Left-wingers, he clawed his way up to becoming general secretary of the Communication Workers Union.

He was the only senior trade union leader to support Mr Blair's decision to abolish Clause 4 of Labour's constitution in 1994 and was rewarded by being helped to a safe parliamentary seat.

Mr Johnson, 54, was already an influential figure when he entered Parliament in 1997 in a neighbouring Hull seat to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. After a brief stint as parliamentary private secretary to Dawn Primarolo, he got a junior minister role at the Department of Trade and Industry where his post office expertise proved handy steering the Postal Services Act through its Commons stages.

After 2001 he was promoted again to Minister of State, with responsibility for employment relations.

Two years later he was given the key job of Minister of State for higher education at a critical moment with top-up fees on the horizon. The university reforms were Mr Blair's pet project and the appointment was a mark of trust that Mr Johnson could push the plan forward against stiff protests from Labour backbenchers, students and even some Education Department officials. He has one son with second wife Laura.