Johnson: I may become Labour leader
By Ian Dunt
Alan Johnson has admitted he may run for Labour leader, but not before Gordon Brown has stepped down.
In an interview with the New Statesman, Mr Johnson said: “I can’t look you in the eye and say, hand on heart, I will never be leader of the Labour party if that means I would never under any circumstances 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.”
He added that it would be “wrong” to challenge Mr Brown.
“I can look at you, hand on heart, and say it’s never been my ambition to be prime minister. I’m not driven by that kind of ambition. I’m going to do everything I can to ensure that the party under its current leadership is successful.”
Mr Johnson remains the favourite to succeed Mr Brown, especially since a YouGov poll for the Independent this week found he could gather enough support to prevent an outright Tory victory at the next election.
But he has proved his loyalty to the prime minister time and time again, not least of all by agreeing to become home secretary during Mr Brown’s last-minute reshuffle late last week.
