Campbell moved into government when Labour won the general election in May 1997 and served as the Prime Minister's chief press secretary until 2000. In government, he implemented many radical changes to both procedure and operational management. He persuaded Cabinet Secretary Sir Robin Butler that government communications had to be modernised, and the government set up the Mountfield Review. He created a Strategic Communications Unit which gave Downing Street the power to co-ordinate all government activity, using what became known as "the grid" as its main apparatus. He set up a rapid rebuttal unit similar to the one he had used in opposition. He put Downing Street briefings on record for the first time, and although he was only identified as "The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman", he became one of the most high-profile and written about figures in British politics, earning the epithet "the real deputy Prime Minister". He opened briefings to the foreign media, among a raft of modernisation and efficiency strategies he introduced. [19] In 2001, Campbell claimed that the days of the bog standard comprehensive school were over due to educational policies of the Labour government. [20] [21] [22]

In 1982, Campbell moved to the London office of the Daily Mirror, Fleet Street's sole remaining big-circulation supporter of the Labour Party. He became a political correspondent, then in 1986 moved to Today, a full-colour tabloid newspaper which was at the time trying to turn leftward, where he worked as a news editor. His rapid rise and its accompanying stress led to alcohol abuse. [13] Alcoholism and depression [ edit ] In March 2017, the newspaper The New European announced that it had appointed Campbell as editor-at-large. [48] But Kosovo created a new Blair image: not a man, as Stephens puts it, "tossed to and fro in the winds of public opinion", but one firm of purpose and resilient in adversity. The admiring Rawnsley writes: "He took a stance and, as others scurried for cover, he held to it." In his insistence on stepping up the war and introducing ground troops, he was largely isolated both in the Western Alliance and in his government. The outcome, writes Seldon, "further increased his reliance on and trust in the small circle around him". It also "ingrained in Blair that he was the bridge between the United States and Europe, and that he uniquely could explain the one to the other". celebrity apprentice 'your fired' ". youtube.com. YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010 . Retrieved 17 May 2017. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.With few exceptions, anyone who writes about Blair is forced to the reluctant conclusion that what is really at the core of him is Christianity. This idea is so unfamiliar in English politics, and so distasteful to most metropolitan journalists, that only Seldon comes seriously to grips with it. Blair "conceptualises the world as a struggle between good and evil", he writes.

Halliday, Josh (23 May 2012). "Alastair Campbell gets job at PR agency Portland". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012 . Retrieved 5 July 2013. Having served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2007, Tony Blair was certain to be a hot property when it came to the public speaking circuit. Ryan, Anya (5 August 2022). "Comedian Grace Campbell, 'I don't give a f**k, I get that from my dad' ". Evening Standard . Retrieved 17 February 2023.

Retailers:

Members of the public get a chance to become prime minister in new show". The Independent. 18 May 2022. The pair still make public speeches and have been the focus of various documentaries and books. Tony Blair

In 2007, he appeared on Comic Relief Does the Apprentice as project manager, having several clashes with Piers Morgan including his comment of "again?" when Morgan got fired, which went viral. [30] History of Aireworth Veterinary Surgery". Archived from the original on 30 December 2011 . Retrieved 11 July 2012.

Select a format:

The road to Baghdad therefore led directly from Pristina where, after the Kosovo war, Blair was acclaimed as a hero. All the evidence produced by his biographers suggests that, after Kosovo, Blair was itching to implement once more the newly minted philosophy revealed in Chicago. According to Kampfner, Blair's concern about the election of George W Bush in 2000 was that this would be "a stay-at-home president". He told Mandelson that "we've got to turn these people into internationalists". Campbell, Alastair. "A lament for my lost piper". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017 . Retrieved 11 May 2017.

Campbell diaries to be published". BBC News. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009 . Retrieved 16 October 2008. He oversaw Blair's successful 2001 UK general election campaign for re-election and also returned to assist with the successful 2005 UK general election campaign. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych) on 6 November 2017. [101] [102] Campbell, Alastair (7 June 2013). "Alistair Campbell: I feel for Stephen Fry. Nobody would wish depression on their worst enemy". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013 . Retrieved 17 November 2013. The readers' problem is even greater. Inevitably, all these books rely at least to some extent on non-attributable interviews (where the writer can use direct quotes without identifying the source). Five of them - John Kampfner's Blair's Wars, Andrew Rawnsley's Servants of the People: The Inside Story of New Labour, John Rentoul's Tony Blair: Prime Minister, Peter Riddell's The Unfulfilled Prime Minister: Tony Blair's Quest for a Legacy and Philip Stephens's Tony Blair: The Price of Leadership - are written by parliamentary lobby journalists; to say that they are accustomed to using non-attributable information without over-zealous questioning of the source's veracity is not to denigrate their professional abilities. Of the others, three - Leo Abse's Tony Blair: The Man Who Lost His Smile, Simon Jenkins's Thatcher and Sons: A Revolution in Three Acts and Geoffrey Wheatcroft's Yo, Blair! - are written from partisan positions to make a polemical point. Peter Hennessy - author of The Prime Minister: The Office and its Holders Since 1945 - is a hybrid, a former journalist, who specialised in covering the inner workings of Whitehall, turned professor of contemporary history.Phillips, Adam (25 October 2008). "Feel the fear". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008 . Retrieved 31 October 2008. Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster and activist, known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman and campaign director in opposition (1994–1997), then as Downing Street Press Secretary, and as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson (1997–2000). He then became Downing Street director of communications and spokesman for the Labour Party (2000–2003). He returned as campaign director for the 2005 general election in Blair's third win.