Coffee House is running a series of posts on the contenders to succeed Gordon Brown as Labour party leader. The latest is below. Click here for our profile of David Miliband, and here for Jon Cruddas.
Alan Johnson, 58, Secretary of State for Health
Pros
Impossible to hate: Johnson is, as one political operative put it to me, the only member of the Cabinet who when he appears on TV doesn’t make the public want to throw something at the set. After 11 years in government, having a leader who the public are at least prepared to listened to would be a major boon for Labour. While dampening the public’s enthusiasm for kicking the bums out, could prevent the Tories from winning a two-term majority.
Acceptable to all wings of the party: Johnson isn’t an ideologue and his Union roots and role in the Blair government makes him acceptable to the full spectrum of Labour opinion.
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