Alastair

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Campbell played an important role in the run-up to the 1997 general election, working with Peter Mandelson to co-ordinate Labour's successful campaign. When Labour won in May 1997, Campbell served as Blair's chief press secretary. He put Downing Street briefings on record for the first time, and although identified only as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman, he became one of the most high-profile figures in British politics, earning the epithet 'the real deputy Prime Minister'. Campbell oversaw Blair's successful 2001 re-election campaign. In the run-up to the Iraq War, he was involved in preparing the September Dossier (2002) and the Iraq Dossier (2003). Accused of influencing reports against intelligence services' wishes, he battled the BBC and media before resigning. He returned to assist with the successful 2005 general election campaign.

In Their Own Story

Campbell was part of the core team that conducted negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, and has been honoured by several Irish universities for his role in the peace process. He became a close friend of Martin McGuinness and attended his funeral in 2017. During the Kosovo War, Campbell was seconded to overhaul NATO's communications when US President Bill Clinton feared NATO was losing the propaganda war. General Wesley Clark credited Campbell with bringing order and discipline to NATO communications. After Diana, Princess of Wales's death, the Earl of Airlie asked Tony Blair to second Campbell to help prepare the funeral. Campbell is widely reported to have coined the phrase 'the people's princess' and to have persuaded the queen to make her broadcast.

Reader's Guide

Campbell was born on 25 May 1957 in Keighley, West Yorkshire, the son of Scottish veterinary surgeon Donald Campbell and Elizabeth (née Caldwell). He attended Bradford Grammar School, City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School, and the University of Cambridge (Gonville and Caius College), studying modern languages (French and German) and gaining an upper second class degree. After graduation, he joined the Mirror Group training scheme, became sports editor at the Tavistock Times, and wrote for Forum magazine. His first mainstream news piece covered the Penlee lifeboat disaster (December 1981). In 1982 he moved to the Daily Mirror, became political correspondent, then in 1986 moved to Today as news editor. In 1986, while accompanying Labour leader Neil Kinnock on a Scotland tour, Campbell had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalised for five days, realising he had an alcohol problem. He returned to the Daily Mirror as political editor. After leaving in 1993, he became political editor of Today. Since his work for Blair, Campbell has acted as a freelance advisor to governments including Edi Rama of Albania, was an adviser to the People's Vote campaign, is editor-at-large of The New World and chief interviewer for GQ, and acts as a consultant strategist and ambassador for Time to Change and other mental health charities. His diaries, totalling some two million words, were published as The Blair Years (2007) and in fuller form from 2010 to 2018. In 2019, Campbell was expelled from the Labour Party after voting for the Liberal Democrats in that month's European elections. In 2022, he launched the podcast The Rest Is Politics with Rory Stewart, which has been the top politics podcast in the UK in Apple rankings since its launch.

Did You Know?

• Campbell coined the name 'New Labour' and wrote the speech that led to the party's review of Clause IV.
• He punched Guardian journalist Michael White in 1991 after White joked about Robert Maxwell's drowning.
• Campbell's diaries reportedly totalled some two million words, published in multiple volumes from 2007 to 2018.
• He was expelled from the Labour Party in 2019 after voting for the Liberal Democrats in European elections.
• Campbell's podcast 'The Rest Is Politics' with Rory Stewart has been the top politics podcast in the UK on Apple since its 2022 launch.