24 Facts About Fiona Millar

Fiona Millar was born on 2 January 1958 and is a British journalist and campaigner on education and parenting issues.

Fiona Millar grew up in St John's Wood, north west London, attending two primary schools there, including Barrow Hill, with her brother, Gavin Fiona Millar, who later became a KC.

Fiona Millar's mother took part in voluntary work for deprived children, and was party secretary of the Marylebone Labour group, later working at the Portman Early Childhood Centre in the north-west of Marylebone.

At the age of 16, Fiona Millar became assistant secretary of St Marylebone Labour Party.

Fiona Millar attended Camden School for Girls from 1968 to 1975.

Fiona Millar studied economics and economic history at University College London, and joined the Mirror Group's graduate training scheme in 1980.

Fiona Millar began in journalism as a trainee on the Mirror Group Graduate Training Scheme in the West Country, later moving to the Daily Express, where she worked as a news reporter and lobby correspondent.

Fiona Millar was a freelance journalist between 1988 and 1995, contributing to the Daily Express, the Sunday Mirror and The House magazine, Parliament's in-house publication.

Fiona Millar worked in the office of the Leader of the Opposition from 1995 to 1997, as an adviser to Cherie Blair from 1995 to 2003, as a Special Adviser to the Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, as head of Cherie Blair's office, and Director of Events and Visits at Downing Street.

Fiona Millar opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but was pressured to stay at Downing Street because of the risk of adverse publicity.

Fiona Millar informed Blair of her definite intention to resign after the capture of Baghdad, on the day of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue.

In 2003, Fiona Millar started writing a monthly column for The Guardian about education.

Fiona Millar has continued to contribute to the newspaper since then.

Fiona Millar presented a documentary film for Channel Four in 2004, The Best for My Child, examining how the quasi-market in schools was working in practice.

In 2005, along with Melissa Benn, Fiona Millar co-wrote a pamphlet, "A Comprehensive Future: Quality and Equality for All Our Children", and is active in the campaign against the Trust Schools white paper, appearing alongside Labour Party figures Neil Kinnock and Estelle Morris at campaign meetings.

Between 2009 and 2013, Fiona Millar was chair of Comprehensive Future, an organisation that promotes the perceived advantages of comprehensive schools in the UK.

Fiona Millar received the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award from the National Union of Teachers in 2009 for her campaigning for good-quality local comprehensive schools as against academies.

That same year, The Secret World of the Working Mother, a book by Fiona Millar about finding a balance between working and being a mother, was published.

In 2010, Fiona Millar helped form the Local Schools Network, a pro-state schools pressure group.

Between 2003 and 2010, Fiona Millar was chair of trustees of the Family and Parenting Institute, and since 2013, has been chair of the National Youth Arts Trust.

Fiona Millar became a trustee of the Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association in October 2020, a charity which aims to promote human rights in Palestine.

Fiona Millar's partner is Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former director of communications.

Campbell and Fiona Millar entered into a civil partnership in March 2021, having been together for 42 years.

Fiona Millar is a patron of the National Association for Special Educational Needs and Humanists UK.