C. P. John

C. P. John (born 22 April 1957) is an Indian politician, lawyer, and social worker from Kerala. He is the General Secretary of the Communist Marxist Party (Kerala State Committee) and a prominent leader within the United Democratic Front (UDF).

He currently serves as a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency after winning the 2026 assembly election. He was earlier associated with student and trade union movements, including holding leadership roles in the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) during the late 1970s and later working in various leftist political organisations in Kerala.

He was born in Kunnamkulam in Thrissur district, Kerala, to C. I. Poulose and Rosa. He completed his B.Sc. in Physics in 1977 and later obtained an LLB degree from Government Law College, Kozhikode, in 1980. Professionally trained as a lawyer, he entered public life through student activism and gradually became active in state-level politics, particularly in left-wing movements that evolved within Kerala’s coalition politics.

In his political career, C. P. John was closely associated with the Communist Marxist Party formed in 1986 following a split in the CPI(M)-aligned leadership under M. V. Raghavan. After the party itself split in 2014, he led the faction known as CMP (John), which continued its alliance with the UDF in Kerala. Over the years, he has also served as a member of the Kerala State Planning Board and held positions in various labour and socialist organisations.

In the 2026 Kerala Assembly election, he contested once more from Thiruvananthapuram and won with 45,586 votes, securing a margin of 9,863 votes, marking a return to electoral success.

On 18 May 2026, C. P. John was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in the new Kerala government following the UDF’s return to power.