It was not a happy time for me or for the family. I remember David Blunkett coming for dinner and I overheard a conversation between him and my daughter Grace. 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, which were among a raft of modernisation and efficiency strategies he introduced. [18] In 2001, Campbell claimed that the days of the bog standard comprehensive school were over due to educational policies of the Labour government. [19] [20] [21] HIGNFY Series 43 Episode 8". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012 . Retrieved 11 July 2012.

Campbell diaries to be published". BBC News. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009 . Retrieved 16 October 2008.

But there are other things, too. For instance, as previously discussed, Boris. “Yes! His loss was a real threat to the podcast. We had an amazing nine months of being fantastically rude about Boris. Then Liz Truss came along. There was a moment after she left when I thought: who’s going to listen to this any more? Our audience is here to be angry about Boris and Truss, and Rishi Sunak is just not as awful.” What about Campbell? Has he come to like him? (I know: it’s as if I’m Derek Batey, and this is Mr and Mrs.) He grins. “The accusation my friends make is that he’s grooming me to join Labour.” This, he says, will never happen. Campbell's first son was born in 1987. He returned to the Daily Mirror, where he eventually became political editor. [12]

In August 2016 Campbell's older brother, Donald, who had schizophrenia, died at the age of 62 due to complications resulting from his illness. Campbell has talked extensively about how Donald, the Principal's official bagpiper at Glasgow University and a competitor in high-level Piobaireachd competitions, had inspired him to fight for better mental health services and understanding, and to become the ambassador for several mental health charities. [79] [80] 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. These are difficult questions to ask and to answer and I have agonised over them all, while blaming myself for not being able to help until Alastair agreed to see a psychiatrist rather than try to cure himself. This watershed moment followed a terrifying incident on Hampstead Heath when fear, anger, helplessness, loss of purpose, self-loathing – I will never know which – caused him to start punching himself in the face. Alastair Campbell joins The New European as editor-at-large". The New European. 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017 . Retrieved 13 April 2017. The Irish Diaries". lilliputpress.ie. The Lilliput Press. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017 . Retrieved 10 May 2017.In 2012, Campbell made his first appearance in an acting role with a small part in an episode of the BBC drama Accused. [37] Fiona Millar leaves Downing Street with her partner Alastair Campbell after his resignation from Tony Blair’s government, August, 2003. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters In the old days, I would live with the feeling, get up, carry on, pretend I was fine, drink to drown the depression, work to chase it away.’ Photograph: Grégoire Bernardi/The Observer From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: Eventually, I pulled over, and tried to calm myself. I did what I often did when under pressure – I compared how I was feeling to how I felt at my worst, psychotic meltdown in 1986. That was a nine. How bad is this? Six, maybe seven. Come on. You can get through it.

a b "Alastair Campbell 'expelled' from Labour Party". BBC News. 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019 . Retrieved 28 May 2019. In January 2014, Campbell announced that he was joining British GQ with a brief to conduct interviews with figures from "politics... sport, business, culture, (and) other aspects of life that I find interesting", succeeding Piers Morgan. In his role at GQ Campbell has interviewed a wide range of people, including Jose Mourinho, Raheem Sterling, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mario Balotelli, Mo Farah and Usain Bolt from the world of sport and Tony Blair, Sadiq Khan, Nicola Sturgeon, George Osborne, John McDonnell, John Bercow, and Chuka Umunna from the world of politics, as well as conducting in-depth interviews with many other figures from public life, including Archbishop Justin Welby, Garry Kasparov and Rachel Riley. In 2017, he conducted an interview with Prince William. In March 2017, GQ began to film the interviews to use as part of their digital platform, beginning with an interview with Owen Jones, and then Tony Blair. When Jeremy Corbyn was interviewed for the magazine in late 2017, he did so on the condition that Campbell would not be the interviewer. [43] [44] [45] He was sponsored by US President George W. Bush to complete the London Marathon in aid of leukaemia research charity Bloodwise. Horowitz, Anthony (31 January 2010). "Review: Alastair Campbell's novel Maya". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 3 February 2010 . Retrieved 24 February 2010.

Sport is central to Putin's power, which is why Russia should be kicked out of the World Cup

Gala Dinner Serves Up a 50,000 Booster at Turf Moore". Burnley Express. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017 . Retrieved 8 May 2017. Alastair Campbell views In the Loop". YouTube. 4 August 2009. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014 . Retrieved 4 April 2014. In May 2019, he 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. Their first interview was with Ed Miliband, followed by Rachel Riley, Jamie Carragher, Kelly Holmes and Maro Itoje. [48]