BEVERLEY – One of Britain’s most celebrated public figures is heading to Beverley next month, and it promises to be an evening unlike most others on the local calendar.
On Wednesday 11 February 2026 at 7.30pm, East Riding Theatre hosts Alan Johnson – The Beatles, Harold Wilson and Me, a one-night Stage4Beverley event in which the award-winning author and former Labour cabinet minister tells the story of two of his greatest influences. Tickets are on sale now for around £25.
Johnson is well known not just for his long political career, but also for his writing. After a humble start, orphaned as a teenager, working as a postman and union leader before entering Parliament he served in senior government roles including Home Secretary, Health Secretary and Education Secretary, and later became an acclaimed author. His memoirs, including This Boy and Please Mister Postman, won major literary awards, and his recent biography Harold Wilson: Twentieth Century Man explores one of the most influential British prime ministers of the 20th century.
In The Beatles, Harold Wilson and Me, Johnson weaves together two cultural pillars of the 1960s: the global phenomenon of The Beatles and the political leadership of Harold Wilson. The show blends keen observation, humour and music with anecdotes from Johnson’s own life from his youth to his years in Westminster in a format described as a delight for listeners with wide interests, and particularly appealing to those who remember that era firsthand.
This event is part of the Stage4Beverley Festival, a multi-day programme that brings music, talks, workshops and performances to venues across the area each February.
Expect a warm, conversational evening that is as much about cultural memory and personal story as it is about politics or history. Beverley audiences will have the chance to hear from someone who has lived through remarkable changes in British life and thought, told with the compelling voice of a writer who has turned a life of public service into compelling narrative.
Tickets: https://stage4beverley.com/whats-on/alan-johnson-the-beatles-harold-wilson-and-me/