Dame Diana Johnson DBE appointed Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire Services

Dame Diana was re-elected as MP for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham in July this year with a majority of over 10,000 votes, a role she has held since 2005. From now on, fire policy and operations will be a key part of the new Minister of State’s responsibilities.

Dame Diana, Hull’s first ever female MP, obtained an LLB in law from Queen Mary University of London before becoming a barrister in 1991. From 1999 to 2005, Dame Diana practised as a barrister at Paddington Law Centre.

Before entering Parliament, Dame Diana was a local councillor and a non-executive director of the NHS.

Johnson was a councillor in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets from 1994 to 2002, where she was chair of social services. She became a member of the London Assembly on 1 March 2003 following the resignation of Trevor Phillips, but chose not to stand for re-election in 2004.

Johnson was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in Her Majesty The Queen’s 2020 New Year Honours List for charitable and political services, at least in part for her campaigning against contaminated blood transfusions. She was appointed to the Privy Council in March 2021.

Committee on Home Affairs

Dame Diana was Chair of the Home Affairs Committee until Parliament was dissolved for the general election. Over time, Dame Diana has also served on the Liaison Committee in Parliament and the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy. Previously, Dame Diana was a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee.

Dame Diana plays an active role in the British American Parliamentary Group and has chaired several cross-party parliamentary groups, including those focusing on haemophilia and contaminated blood, Friends of the University of Hull, human rights, deprived neighbourhoods, sexual and reproductive health and commercial sexual exploitation.

Dame Diana was named Backbencher of the Year in 2018 for her work in bringing about a public inquiry into the NHS contaminated blood scandal.

Dame Diana is patron of the Hull and East Riding RSPCA, the National Civilian WW2 Memorial Trust and also of Hull and East Riding Breast Friends, a local breast cancer charity.

Promise for the general elections

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) welcomed the Labour Party’s commitment ahead of the general election to transform the fire and rescue service by giving firefighters and their union a voice in how the service is run.

Before 4 July, the then Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, outlined Labour’s plan to develop a national structure that would inform policy and set national standards for the fire and rescue services.

The Labour Party will now work with trade unions and other stakeholders on the framework, which aims to raise standards in key areas such as health, safety and the standards of fire and rescue services generally.

Since 2010, the Fire and Rescue Service has lost one in five firefighters’ jobs and 30% of central government funding. The average response time for the first fire engine to arrive on the scene has now risen to nine minutes and 12 seconds in England, the worst ever.