129 Facts About Alastair Campbell

Alastair John Campbell was born on 25 May 1957 and is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster, and activist, who is known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party.

Alastair Campbell then became Downing Street's director of communications and spokesman for the Labour Party.

Alastair Campbell was Political Editor at the Daily Mirror newspaper in the 1980s and of Today in the 1990s.

In 1994, shortly after Blair was elected as Leader of the Labour Party in 1994, Alastair Campbell left the Today newspaper to become Blair's press secretary.

Alastair Campbell was one of several key people responsible for the rebranding of the Labour Party as New Labour before its victory in the 1997 general election.

Alastair Campbell played an important role in the run-up to the 1997 general election, working with Peter Mandelson to co-ordinate Labour's successful election campaign.

When Labour won the general election in May 1997, Alastair Campbell served as Blair's chief press secretary.

Alastair Campbell 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".

Alastair Campbell oversaw Blair's successful 2001 general election campaign for re-election.

Alastair Campbell was accused of influencing the reports against the wishes of the intelligence services, which led to Alastair Campbell battling with the BBC as well as the general media and later resigning.

Alastair Campbell returned to assist with the successful 2005 general election campaign.

Alastair Campbell was an adviser to the People's Vote campaign, campaigning for a public vote on the final Brexit deal.

Alastair Campbell is the editor-at-large of The New European and chief interviewer for GQ.

Alastair Campbell expressed an intention to publish the diaries in fuller form, which he did from 2010 to 2018.

In 2019, Alastair Campbell was expelled from the Labour Party after voting for the Liberal Democrats in that month's European elections.

In 2022, Alastair Campbell launched the podcast The Rest Is Politics with Rory Stewart, which has been the top politics podcast in the UK in the Apple rankings since its launch.

Alastair Campbell was born on 25 May 1957 in Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Scottish veterinary surgeon Donald Alastair Campbell and his wife, Elizabeth, who had moved to Keighley when his father became a partner in a local veterinary practice.

Alastair Campbell grew up with two older brothers, Donald and Graeme, and a younger sister, Elizabeth.

Alastair Campbell studied modern languages, gaining an upper second degree.

Alastair Campbell became the sports editor at the Tavistock Times, writing a column called 'Campbell's Corner'.

Alastair Campbell published Inter-City Ditties, his winning entry to a readers' competition in Forum, the journalistic counterpart to Penthouse magazine.

In 1982, Alastair Campbell moved to the London office of the Daily Mirror, Fleet Street's sole remaining big-circulation supporter of the Labour Party.

Alastair Campbell became a political correspondent, then in 1986 moved to Today, a full-colour tabloid newspaper, where he worked as a news editor.

Alastair Campbell's rapid rise and its accompanying stress led to alcohol abuse.

In 1986, while accompanying MP Neil Kinnock on a tour of Scotland, Alastair Campbell had a nervous breakdown.

Alastair Campbell stayed in Ross Hall Hospital, a private BMI hospital in Glasgow.

Alastair Campbell said that from that day onwards he counted each day that he did not drink alcohol, and did not stop counting until he had reached thousands.

Alastair Campbell experienced a period of depression and he was reluctant to seek further medical help.

Alastair Campbell eventually cooperated with treatment from his family doctor.

Alastair Campbell returned to the Daily Mirror, where he eventually became political editor.

Alastair Campbell was a close adviser to MP Neil Kinnock, and Daily Mirror publisher Robert Maxwell.

Alastair Campbell later put this down to stress over uncertainty as to whether he and his colleagues would lose their jobs.

In 1994, shortly after Tony Blair was elected as Leader of the Labour Party in 1994, Alastair Campbell left the Today newspaper to become Blair's press secretary.

Alastair Campbell wrote the speech that led to the party's review of Clause IV and the birth of "New Labour".

Alastair Campbell played an important role in the run-up to the 1997 UK general election, working with Peter Mandelson to co-ordinate Labour's successful election campaign.

Alastair Campbell worked hard to win support from the national media for the Labour Party, particularly from newspapers that for many years had been anti-Labour.

When Labour won the general election in May 1997, Alastair Campbell served as the Prime Minister Blair's chief press secretary.

Alastair Campbell persuaded Cabinet Secretary Robin Butler that government communications had to be modernised, and the government set up the Mountfield Review.

Alastair Campbell 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.

Alastair Campbell set up a rapid rebuttal unit similar to the one he had used in opposition.

Alastair Campbell 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".

Alastair Campbell opened briefings to the foreign media, which were among a raft of modernisation and efficiency strategies he introduced.

In 2001 Alastair Campbell claimed that the days of the "bog standard" comprehensive school were over, due to educational policies of the Labour government.

Alastair Campbell attacked the news media for their obsession with him, and eventually began to pull back from frontline work and delegated direct briefing of the media to others.

Alastair Campbell then moved to the post of Prime Minister's Director of Communications.

Alastair Campbell was part of the core team that conducted the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, and he has been honoured by several Irish universities for his role in the peace process.

Alastair Campbell became a close friend of Martin McGuinness, and attended his funeral in 2017.

Alastair Campbell was seconded to overhaul the communications of NATO during the Kosovo War, when US President Bill Clinton feared NATO was losing the propaganda war against the Slobodan Milosevic regime.

The general in charge of the military operation, Wesley Clark, credited Alastair Campbell with bringing order and discipline to NATO communications, and freeing the military to do its job.

Alastair Campbell became a central figure in the handling of the aftermath of Diana, Princess of Wales's death after the head of the royal household, the Earl of Airlie, asked Tony Blair to second Alastair Campbell to help prepare the funeral, saying they knew it would have to be different.

Alastair Campbell is widely reported to have coined the phrase "the people's princess" and to have persuaded the queen to make her broadcast to the nation more personal, not least by using the phrase "speaking as a grandmother".

Alastair Campbell oversaw Blair's successful 2001 UK general election campaign for re-election and returned to assist with the successful 2005 UK general election campaign.

On 9 September 2002, Alastair Campbell sent a memo to Sir John Scarlett, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, in which Alastair Campbell directed that the British dossier be "one that complements rather than conflicts with" the US claims.

On 29 May 2003, Andrew Gilligan of the BBC first alleged Alastair Campbell to have influenced the reports against the wishes of the intelligence services, misrepresenting his source, Dr David Kelly, in the process.

Alastair Campbell suggested that an accessible explanation for the incident can be found by examining the parties' differing professional cultures.

Kelly sought to communicate scientific truth, Gilligan sought to communicate the government's lacking argument, and Alastair Campbell sought to communicate the case for war in the most convincing way available.

In 2013, in a speech Alastair Campbell gave in Australia, he argued that there had always been "spin" and propaganda, but that there was more pressure to tell the truth 'today' than there was during the second world war.

Alastair Campbell went on to claim that Tony Blair had "greater commitment to wartime truth than Winston Churchill".

Alastair Campbell worked again for the Labour Party as Campaign Director in the run-up to their third consecutive victory at the 2005 general election.

Alastair Campbell acted as an adviser to Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband at the 2010 and the 2015 general elections.

Alastair Campbell wrote a column for The Times during the tour.

Subsequent press coverage of the book's release included coverage of what Alastair Campbell had chosen to leave out, particularly in respect of the relationship between Blair and his chancellor and successor Gordon Brown.

Alastair Campbell expressed an intention to one day publish the diaries in fuller form, and indicated in the introduction to the book that he did not wish to make matters harder for Brown in his new role as Prime Minister, or to damage the Labour Party.

Alastair Campbell released the diaries in fuller form from 2010 to 2018.

Alastair Campbell later said that he "fell hook, line and sinker" for the Armstrong legend.

Alastair Campbell subsequently worked with Armstrong, campaigning for cancer charities, but drew criticism from Armstrong's nemesis David Walsh for being so supportive and defending him so passionately.

Alastair Campbell has his own website and blog, as well as several pages on other social media websites.

Alastair Campbell uses these platforms to discuss British politics and other topics close to his heart.

Alastair Campbell has written a novel on the subject entitled All in the Mind.

Alastair Campbell made his first appearance on the BBC One political discussion programme Question Time on 27 May 2010.

Alastair Campbell suggested the discord was part of a Conservative anti-BBC agenda.

The minister who had been scheduled to appear was the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws, who Alastair Campbell produced a picture of during the programme.

In 2011, Alastair Campbell contacted the Metropolitan Police with suspicions that his phone was hacked by the News of the World in 2003.

Alastair Campbell received damages, part of which he used to sponsor the Burnley women's football team.

In May 2012, Alastair Campbell took a role at PR agency Portland Communications, at the invitation of Tim Allan, a former adviser to Tony Blair.

Alastair Campbell has conducted in-depth interviews with many other figures from public life, including Archbishop Justin Welby, Garry Kasparov and Rachel Riley.

In May 2016, the International Business Times announced that Alastair Campbell had joined it as a columnist.

In May 2019, Alastair Campbell announced that he and his daughter Grace, a comedian and feminist, had launched a joint podcast, Football, Feminism and Everything In Between: a series of interviews with figures from politics, sport and other walks of life.

When Government Adviser Dominic Cummings broke government guidelines to visit Durham, England, Alastair Campbell urged his social media followers to write to all Conservative MPs asking for their view and published a 50,000-word analysis of what he called 'Organised Hypocrisy' on his website, based on the responses he collated.

Alastair Campbell was a guest presenter of Good Morning Britain from 10 to 12 May 2021, co-hosting with Susanna Reid.

In January 2022, Alastair Campbell began a series of interviews for Men's Health called Talking Heads, with a focus on mindset and well-being.

In March 2022, Alastair Campbell launched The Rest Is Politics podcast with Rory Stewart, a former Conservative Member of Parliament and a candidate in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election.

Alastair Campbell provides an analysis of what he refers to as "populism, polarisation and post-truth politics".

The book went to No 1 in the Sunday Times bestseller list in the first week of publication, meaning Alastair Campbell had both the most popular podcast and the best-selling non-fiction hardback book in the UK at the same time.

Alastair Campbell launched a regular series of 'Instagram live' broadcasts, in which he vented his criticisms of Boris Johnson.

Alastair Campbell was a critic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the British government's tolerance of oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin, contrasting it with their 'cruel and shabby' treatment of Ukrainian refugees, who faced large amounts of red tape before being considered for exile.

Alastair Campbell wrote extensively on his meetings with the Russian president alongside Tony Blair.

Immediately after the UK's referendum on membership of the European Union in June 2016, Alastair Campbell stated that he thought it was "the worst decision Britain had made in his lifetime" and would do what he could to change people's minds.

In 2018 Alastair Campbell became part of the top table team at the People's Vote campaign fighting for a referendum on the Brexit deal.

In 2018 Alastair Campbell worked for the People's Vote campaign's planning and organisation of a march on Parliament on 20 October, which drew an estimated 250,000 people onto the streets.

Alastair Campbell helped organize and spoke at a second march and rally attended by an estimated million people in October 2019, on the day that Boris Johnson called a rare Saturday sitting in Parliament to back his Brexit deal.

In July 2017, Alastair Campbell was invited to speak at the French National Assembly to the newly elected MPs of President Emmanuel Macron's victorious En Marche party.

Alastair Campbell urged the French to be patient with the United Kingdom and to give them a chance to change course and reverse Brexit.

Alastair Campbell said Macron had been bolder than Tony Blair in setting up a new party and leading it to power within little over a year.

Alastair Campbell wrote a piece criticising the chairman of Open Britain, Roland Rudd, after Rudd unilaterally decided to sack two key campaign officials ahead of the 2019 UK general election.

Alastair Campbell has since then been a prominent supporter and advocate for the mental health anti-stigma campaign Time to Change.

Alastair Campbell took part in the Mental Health Foundation's takeover of Channel 4 for Mental Health Awareness Week 2017, acting as a celebrity continuity announcer.

In 2019, Alastair Campbell was appointed global ambassador to Australians for Mental Health, a new umbrella organisation fighting for better services.

Alastair Campbell made numerous media appearances and caused controversy by saying on the Australian version of Question Time, that Donald Trump and fellow populists were "sowing the seeds of fascism".

On 28 May 2019, Alastair Campbell announced that he had been expelled from the Labour Party after voting for the Liberal Democrats in that month's European elections, and that he would appeal against the decision.

Alastair Campbell questioned the speed of his expulsion compared to the treatment of Labour colleagues accused of anti-semitism.

Alastair Campbell was a long-standing critic of Labour's Brexit strategy and in the May 2019 European elections, he voted for the Liberal Democrats as a protest vote.

Alastair Campbell announced this after the polls had closed in interviews on TV and radio covering the results as they came in.

Alastair Campbell said he did so, in common with many others, to persuade Labour unequivocally to back a People's Vote.

Alastair Campbell immediately appealed the decision, saying tactical voting was not a breach of the rule under which he had been expelled, and arguing that unless all others who had acted as he did were expelled he had a case for discrimination.

In July 2019, in the week Boris Johnson became prime minister, Alastair Campbell penned a 3,500-word open letter to Jeremy Corbyn saying he no longer wished to be re-admitted to the party despite legal advice saying he would win a court case against his expulsion.

Alastair Campbell called on Corbyn to step down and cited his "failure" on Brexit, antisemitism, broader policy and "above all the failure to develop and execute a strategy".

Corbyn said he was "disappointed", prompting Alastair Campbell to ask why he had been expelled.

Alastair Campbell voted Labour in the 2019 general election, having been part of a failed tactical voting campaign aimed at preventing Johnson from winning a majority.

Alastair Campbell entered into a civil partnership with British journalist Fiona Millar, on 30 March 2021, after being together for 42 years.

Alastair Campbell has talked extensively about how Donald had inspired him to fight for better mental health services and understanding, and to become the ambassador for several mental health charities.

Alastair Campbell is regularly involved in events with the club, and was involved in rescuing the club from potential bankruptcy.

Alastair Campbell was one of the founders of the University College of Football Business, based at Burnley's stadium.

Alastair Campbell is a fan of the rugby league club Keighley Cougars, as it had been a childhood dream of his to play for the team.

Alastair Campbell has an interest in the music of the Belgian singer Jacques Brel.

Alastair Campbell is a keen runner, cyclist, swimmer and triathlete, having raised over half a million pounds for charity running the London Marathon in 2003.

In 2005, Alastair Campbell was played by Jonathan Cake in the Channel 4 television film The Government Inspector, based on the David Kelly Case.

Alastair Campbell featured in Dead Ringers and was portrayed by Adam Damerell in season 6 of The Crown.

Alastair Campbell has been cited as the inspiration for the character of Malcolm Tucker in the BBC political satire comedy The Thick of It.

In 2006 and 2007, Alastair Campbell took part in Soccer Aid as part of the Rest of the World team.

Alastair Campbell appeared with Diego Maradona and Paul Gascoigne to raise money for UNICEF.

Alastair Campbell appeared as a mentor in the BBC Two series The Speaker in April 2009, offering his advice on persuasive speaking.

Alastair Campbell appeared on BBC's Top Gear in July 2010, where he was booed by some members of the audience but set a time of 1:47 around the Top Gear test track in the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment.

Alastair Campbell took part in the 2011 Channel 4 television series Jamie's Dream School.

Alastair Campbell presented and narrated the 20 February 2012 edition of the BBC current affairs programme Panorama, which was entitled "Britain's Hidden Alcoholics".

In 2012, Alastair Campbell made his first appearance in an acting role with a small part in an episode of the BBC drama Accused.

In May 2022 it was announced that Alastair Campbell would appear in the Channel 4 political entertainment series Make Me Prime Minister, due to broadcast at the end of September 2022.

In May 2023, Alastair Campbell was involved in a heated debate with Alex Phillips, a member of Reform UK, on BBC Newsnight.

Alastair Campbell later apologised to the presenter, Victoria Derbyshire, for his behaviour.