Daniel Johnson (Scottish politician)

Johnson was born on 3 September 1977.[1][2] He was educated at Bonaly Primary School and at the independent, fee-paying Stewart's Melville College.[3] He joined the Labour Party at the age of 17.[3] He graduated from the University of St Andrews in philosophy and from the University of Strathclyde in management.[3][4]

Johnson's first job after leaving university was working as a constituency caseworker for Edinburgh South's MP Nigel Griffiths.[3] He later went on to work as a management consultant for Accenture.[5] Prior his election, he became managing director of the Paper Tiger and Studio One group of shops. The group became the first independent retailer in Edinburgh to become an accredited Living Wage employer in 2015.[6]

In January 2014, Johnson was selected by party members as a candidate for Edinburgh Southern prior to the upcoming Scottish Parliament election.[3] He was elected to the Scottish Parliament in May 2016, gaining the seat from the Scottish National Party.[7] He became shadow education minister for Scottish Labour in May 2016.[8]

In December 2017, Johnson was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Justice Spokesperson.[9] He resigned on 28 May 2019, the day after it was confirmed Scottish Labour had finished fifth in Scotland in the European Parliament elections and lost both its Scottish MEPs. He criticised the Labour Party's "direction and leadership" and noted Labour had finished sixth in Edinburgh. He challenged the party's Brexit policies, stating in his resignation letter he thought Labour should endorse a second referendum and campaign for remaining in the European Union.[10]

He is currently deputy convener of the Education and Skills Committee.

In September 2020, Daniel Johnson called for Richard Leonard to resign as Scottish Labour leader, saying "Continuing like this will be disastrous for our party and is why I no longer have confidence in Richard Leonard’s leadership."[11]

Johnson nominated Anas Sarwar in the 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election.[12]

Johnson resides in the constituency with his wife, Jackie, and two daughters.[4]

Johnson revealed to Scottish Parliament that he had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later in life at the age of 35.[16] He is believed to be the only politician in any UK parliament to be diagnosed with the condition at this time.