Diaries Volume One: Prelude to Power (The Alastair Campbell Diaries, 1)

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Campbell made his first appearance on the BBC One political discussion programme Question Time on 27 May 2010. At the opening of the edition, presenter David Dimbleby said that the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition would not allow a frontbench member of the government to appear on the show unless Campbell was dropped. The BBC refused to do this. The government later accused the BBC of behaving improperly for allowing Campbell to appear as a more in-depth version of his diaries was due to be published the following week, and a Downing Street spokesman told The Guardian, "Campbell seemed to be on because he's flogging a book next week, so the BBC haven't behaved entirely properly here." [34] Campbell said that he had waited until Labour were in opposition before appearing on the show and that the date was a coincidence as it was the only time he was free. He suggested the discord was part of a Conservative anti-BBC agenda. [34] The minister who had been scheduled to appear was the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws, who Campbell produced a picture of during the programme. Three days later, Laws resigned his post following revelations about possible irregularities in his expenses claims in The Telegraph the day before. She has written that “on balance, I am pleased we stayed together through it all”. On balance – how romantic, like, on the one hand, it is sometimes bearable, and on the other, it’s not. Alastair Campbell: Why I no longer want to be readmitted to Labour". The New European. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020 . Retrieved 3 February 2020. In May 2012, Campbell took a role at PR agency Portland Communications, at the invitation of Tim Allan, a former adviser to Tony Blair. [39] [40] Along with Tony Blair, Campbell has also provided consultancy services to the government of Kazakhstan on "questions of social economic modernisation." [41] [42] [43]

Campbell was part of Tony Blair's 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. He became a close friend of, among others, Martin McGuinness, and attended his funeral in 2017. It emerged McGuinness was helping Campbell with a novel which had an IRA active service unit as part of the plot. The criticism of Dearlove is less pointed than that of Scarlett. It is largely implicit, blaming him for providing faulty intelligence that Iraq was pursuing a chemical and biological weapons programme and that it had been seeking uranium from Niger to build a nuclear weapon. Winter Walks". bbc.co.uk. 30 November 2021. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021 . Retrieved 30 November 2021.In his spare time Campbell plays the bagpipes to relieve stress. In December 2017, a musical project he was involved in won the Community Award at the Na Trads traditional Scottish music awards. He had played the bagpipes at a concert in Glasgow earlier in the year, staged entirely by musicians with links to Tiree. The Tiree Community Songbook was made into a CD, which won a Community award at the Traditional Music awards. [87] In July 2017, he was invited to speak at the French National Assembly to the newly elected MPs of President Emmanuel Macron's victorious En Marche party, Campbell having met and advised Macron during the campaign. He urged the French to be patient with the United Kingdom and to give them a chance to change course and reverse Brexit. He said Macron had been bolder than Tony Blair in setting up a new party and leading it to power within little over a year. [60] [61]

Mason, Rowena. " 'Alastair Campbell says he no longer wishes to be a Labour member' ". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019 . Retrieved 2 August 2019. Campbell has long been linked with the “dodgy” dossier of September 2002 alleging Saddam was pursuing a weapons of mass destruction programme. In March 2022, Campbell launched The Rest is Politics podcast with Rory Stewart, a former Conservative Member of Parliament and candidate in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election. The pair discuss current news stories and reminisce about their old jobs. [79] Personal life [ edit ]

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Final Say: Alastair Campbell to answer questions on Reddit about the campaign for a People's Vote". The Independent. 19 September 2018. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018 . Retrieved 2 November 2018. celebrity apprentice 'your fired' ". youtube.com. YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010 . Retrieved 17 May 2017. Campbell's first son was born in 1987. He returned to the Daily Mirror, where he eventually became political editor. [13] 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. Campbell wanted source revealed". BBC News. London: BBC. 22 September 2003. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011 . Retrieved 22 September 2013.

Ames, Chris; Norton-Taylor, Richard (10 January 2010). "Alastair Campbell had Iraq dossier changed to fit US claims". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010 . Retrieved 12 January 2010. He is criticised for failing to make the case for the military ahead of the invasion and for being not a strong enough personality to stand up to pressure from Downing Street. Political Awards: and the winner is..." Channel 4 News. Channel 4. 23 January 2008. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009 . Retrieved 16 October 2008. In 2018 Campbell became part of the top table team at the People's Vote campaign fighting for a referendum on the Brexit deal. This included overseeing the production of campaign films, including one written by and starring his daughter Grace, called The Brexit Special, for which Campbell persuaded actor Richard Wilson to revive his most famous character, Victor Meldrew. [57] [58] The Blair Years". The Random House Group. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009 . Retrieved 13 August 2007.

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Campbell returned to England, preferring to stay with friends near Cheltenham rather than return to London (and his partner) where he did not feel safe. His condition continued with a phase of depression, and he was reluctant to seek further medical help. He eventually cooperated with treatment from his family doctor. [13] Return to work [ edit ]