Jo Johnson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Joseph Edmund Johnson, Baron Johnson of Marylebone, (born 23 December 1971) is a British politician and peer who was Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from 2015 to 2018, and from July to September 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for
Orpington Orpington is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Mary Cray, sou ...
from
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
to
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
. He currently sits in the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
. His older brother,
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
, was
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...
between 2019 and 2022. Johnson was appointed Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit in 2013 by Prime Minister
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
. He became Minister of State for the Cabinet Office in 2014 and Universities Minister in 2015. Following the January 2018 cabinet reshuffle, Johnson served as Minister of State for Transport and Minister for London; he resigned in November the same year, citing the failure of the
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
negotiations to achieve what had been promised by the Vote Leave campaign and his wish to campaign for a referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement. In July 2019, he became part of his brother's Cabinet, again as Minister of State for Universities. Johnson and his brother became the third set of brothers to have served simultaneously in Cabinet – following Edward and Oliver Stanley in 1938, and David and Ed Miliband in 2007 – with Johnson being the first to serve as the brother of an incumbent prime minister. In September 2019, he resigned from the Cabinet and announced that he would stand down as an MP at the
2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019, with 47,074,800 registered voters entitled to vote to elect 650 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Un ...
. In July 2020, he was elevated to the House of Lords in the 2019 Dissolution Honours. He is Chairman of the House of Lords Select Committee on Education for 11-16 year olds. Since leaving Government, Johnson has focused on the role of technology in widening access to education. He was appointed non-executive chairman at ''Tes'' in December 2019. He is also now chairman of Access Creative College, the largest independent provider of further education and training for the creative industries, and of FutureLearn, the global digital learning platform. He is also a senior fellow at the
Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
, and President's Professorial Fellow at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
. He has since returned to his work as a
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
at outlets including the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
''. Johnson resigned his directorship after 8 months service, at Elara Capital PLC on the 1 February 2023. His resignation statement, (by email) acknowledged recognition that his former role "requires greater domain expertise in specialised areas of financial regulation than I anticipated and, accordingly, I have resigned from the board."


Early life


Family

Johnson was born in London. He is the youngest of four children of former
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
MEP Stanley Johnson and artist Charlotte Johnson Wahl (née Fawcett), the daughter of Sir James Fawcett, a
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
and president of the
European Commission of Human Rights The European Commission of Human Rights was a special body of the Council of Europe. From 1954 to the 1998 entry into force of European Convention on Human Rights#Protocol 11, Protocol 11 to the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals d ...
from 1972 to 1981. Johnson is the brother of
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
, the former
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
of the United Kingdom and Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip;
Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...
, a journalist; and Leo, an
entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...
, filmmaker and partner at the professional services firm,
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Fo ...
.


Education

Johnson first attended the
European School A European School () is a type of international school emphasising a multilingual and multicultural pedagogical approach to the teaching of nursery, primary and secondary students, leading to the European Baccalaureate as their secondary lea ...
in
Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...
, before attending The Hall School in Hampstead, London, Ashdown House School in East Sussex, and then
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
. In 1991, he went to
Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...
, to read Modern History. He was a Scholar at Balliol, edited ''
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
'', the Oxford University student magazine, and was awarded a First Class degree in both Honour Moderations (June 1992) and Finals (Honour School, June 1994). While at Oxford, he was a member of the Bullingdon Club together with
Harry Mount Henry Francis Mount (born 1971) is a British author and journalist, who is the editor of ''The Oldie'' magazine, and a frequent contributor to the ''Daily Mail'' and ''The Daily Telegraph''. Early life Harry Mount was born in 1971. His father, ...
, Nathaniel Rothschild and
George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...
, with whom he remains a close friend.


Career in journalism

After graduating from the
Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...
, in 1995 Johnson joined
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...
as an
investment banker Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by unde ...
. In 1997, he switched career paths and joined the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
''. After a sabbatical in 1999/2000 during which he gained an MBA from
INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...
, he returned to become Paris correspondent (2001–05), and then as South Asia bureau chief based in
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
(2005–08). On return to London he became an associate editor of the ''Financial Times'' and head of the Lex Column, one of the most influential positions in British financial journalism. Previous 'Heads of Lex' include
Nigel Lawson Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, (11 March 1932 – 3 April 2023) was a British politician and journalist. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament for Blaby in Leicestershire from 1974 to 1992, and served ...
, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Martin Taylor, former chief executive of Barclays Bank, and Richard Lambert, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry. Johnson left the Lex column in April 2010. He received awards for his journalism from a range of organisations, including the Foreign Press Association, the Society of Publishers in Asia and ''
The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
''s Excellence in Journalism Awards. Johnson's books include the co-authored ''The Man Who Tried To Buy the World'' (Penguin, 2003), about the French businessman Jean-Marie Messier. This was serialised in ''The Guardian'' and published in France as ''Une faillite française'' by Albin Michel in 2002. He co-edited, with Rajiv Kumar (secretary general, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) ''Reconnecting Britain and India: Ideas for an Enhanced Partnership'' (Academic Foundation 2011). He commentated on radio and television, and spoke in public on the rise of India, as well as on the UK political economy and financial affairs.


Parliamentary career

In 2009, he was selected as the
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
parliamentary candidate for the safe seat of
Orpington Orpington is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Mary Cray, sou ...
in the
London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is a London Borough, borough in London, England. It is the largest and southeasternmost borough in London, and borders the county of Kent, of which it formed part until 1965. The borough's population in the 2021 ...
from a
shortlist A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...
of six contenders. At the 2010 general election, he retained the seat for the Conservatives, tripling the majority of his predecessor John Horam to over 17,000. His majority increased again in the general election of 2015, to 19,979. He increased the Conservative share of the vote in the constituency by 5.5% points to 62.9% at the general election in June 2017, although his majority declined to 19,453.


Head of the Downing Street Policy Unit

On 25 April 2013, he was appointed head of the
Number 10 Policy Unit The Number 10 Policy Unit is a body of policymakers based in 10 Downing Street, providing policy advice directly to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister. Originally set up to support Harold Wilson in 1974, it has gone ...
by
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
to help develop the 2015 Conservative manifesto. As a junior Cabinet Office minister, he headed the Policy Unit in the Prime Minister's Office, and also chaired a newly created Conservative Parliamentary advisory board, known as the Prime Minister's Policy Board, consisting of Conservative MPs. Johnson's appointment to head up the Downing Street policy unit was viewed as surprising by ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' as he was perceived as being more pro-European and left-leaning than most Conservatives.


Minister for Universities and Science

On 11 May 2015, it was announced that Johnson had been appointed Minister for Universities and Science at the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was created by the Gordon Brown premiership on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Uni ...
(BIS). Writing about Johnson's appointment for ''
Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
'', John Morgan said: "Mr Johnson's reputation as a pro-European is likely to please vice-chancellors, many of whom are concerned by the Tories' pledge to hold an in-out referendum on EU membership by 2017.
Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...
pointed out that British higher education institutions benefit from around £1.2 billion in European research funding each year." In this role, Johnson introduced the
Higher Education and Research Act 2017 The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (c. 29) was enacted into law in the United Kingdom by the Houses of Parliament on 27 April 2017. It is intended to create a new regulatory framework for Higher education in the United Kingdom, higher edu ...
, which the Times Higher Education described as the most significant legislation in 25 years. This overhauled the regulatory framework for English universities, replaced the
Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engl ...
with a new regulator, the
Office for Students The Office for Students (OfS) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government. It acts as the regulator and competition authority for the higher education sector ...
, and established mechanisms to hold universities more accountable for the quality of teaching and student outcomes. The Act also created a new single national strategic research body, UK Research and Innovation, bringing together the UK's fragmented research funding bodies.


Minister of Transport

On 9 January 2018, Johnson left his role as Minister for Universities and accepted a new position as Minister of Transport and Minister for London. On 9 November 2018, Johnson resigned his position, citing disillusionment with the government's Brexit strategy and called for a fresh vote on Brexit with an option to remain. Johnson argued that Britain was "on the brink of the greatest crisis" since World War Two and claimed that what was on offer was not "anything like what was promised".


Brexit

Johnson called on his Conservative Party MPs to vote down
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...
's Brexit deal on 11 December 2018, stating that it was 'half baked' and the 'worst of both worlds'. Johnson resigned as a minister in December 2018 because he wanted to be free to endorse a
proposed referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement A referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement, also referred to as a "second referendum", a "rerun", a "people's vote", or a "confirmatory public vote", was proposed by a number of politicians and pressure groups as a way to break the deadlock ...
.
Image via Twitter.
''


Minister in Boris Johnson's Cabinet

On 24 July 2019, it was announced that Jo Johnson was appointed Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation – this position would mean he would be attending the meetings of the cabinet. He was appointed to the privy council the next day. On 5 September, Johnson resigned as a Minister and announced he would stand down as MP, describing his position as "torn between family and national interest". He stood down at the next general election rather than resigning. A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister would like to thank Jo Johnson for his service... The constituents of Orpington could not have asked for a better representative."


House of Lords

On 31 July 2020, the announcement was made of Johnson's elevation to the House of Lords as part of the 2019 Dissolution Honours. It was his elder brother Boris Johnson who established his peerage. He was created Baron Johnson of Marylebone, of
Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...
in the
City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...
, on 29 October. He delivered his maiden speech on the afternoon of Thursday 4 March 2021.


Personal life

Johnson lives in London with his wife, Amelia Gentleman, a journalist for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', the daughter of artist and designer David Gentleman. The couple have two children.


Ancestors


References


External links


Jo Johnson MP
''official constituency website''
Jo Johnson MP
Conservative Party profile *
Profile and column archives
at the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
''
Jo Johnson , Politics , The GuardianJo Johnson , The Telegraph
, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jo 1971 births Living people Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford British business writers British economics writers British male journalists British newspaper editors British people of American descent British people of Circassian descent British people of French descent British people of German descent British people of Jewish descent British people of Lithuanian descent British people of Turkish descent Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English people of American descent English people of Circassian descent English people of French descent English people of German descent English people of Jewish descent English people of Lithuanian descent English people of Turkish descent Financial Times people INSEAD alumni People educated at Ashdown House People educated at Eton College Alumni of the European Schools UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 Ministers for universities of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Bullingdon Club members Life peers created by Elizabeth II Family of Boris Johnson