Johnson was the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member for Parliament for Kindersley, Saskatchewan.

He first won his seat in the House of Commons of Canada in the 1953 federal election and was re-elected in 1957 before being defeated in the 1958 general election in the Diefenbaker landslide.

He attempted to re-enter the House of Commons in several subsequent elections as a New Democrat but was unsuccessful.

In 1977, Johnson was appointed to serve as Saskatchewan's agent-general in London, England.

[2] He died in Victoria, British Columbia in July 2019 at the age of 96.