Alastair Campbell is a writer, podcaster, communicator, campaigner and strategist best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. Still active in politics and campaigns in Britain and overseas, he now splits his time between writing, speaking, broadcasting, charities and consultancy.
A defining figure of modern political history, Alastair Campbell changed politics and campaigns forever when directing Tony Blair’s three general election wins. He now applies the lessons learned then, and since, to helping governments, parties, businesses, charities, sports teams and individuals to turn bold objectives into real strategies that work. One of the godfathers of modern strategic communication, he also specializes in crisis management.
Though he left a full-time role with the Blair government in 2003, he returned for the subsequent three general elections to help first Blair, then Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, and despite having been expelled under Jeremy Corbyn for voting against the Party’s Brexit policy in European elections, he remains an active campaigner for Labour. He advised the “Better Together” campaign against Scottish independence in 2014, worked for the People’s Vote Campaign in the failed pursuit of a second Brexit referendum and remains an outspoken opponent of Brexit and the refusal of the main parties to recognize the damage it has done to Britain.
He continues to advise progressive parties, in particular in the Balkans, where he has for some years been a strategic director for the Albanian Socialist Party. He acted as a campaign advisor to successive French Presidents, François Hollande and Emmanuel Macron.
Alastair Campbell is the author of several books including “But What Can I Do? Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It” (2023) and Sunday Times Bestseller, “Winners: And How They Succeed” (2016). In 2012, Alastair published the third volume of his diaries, covering the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. The first instalment, “The Blair Years”, was an instant Sunday Times number one bestseller.
In the spring of 2022, he launched a podcast, “The Rest Is Politics”, with former Tory Cabinet minister Rory Stewart, which has regularly topped the UK podcast charts, and they have sold out some of the biggest and most prestigious venues in the UK, among them the Albert Hall and the Usher Hall, for live events.
They now also do an interview channel, “Rest Is Politics Leading”, and have talked to a number of former Prime Ministers, including John Major, Theresa May and Tony Blair, leading international politicians, among them Hillary Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Francois Hollande, and a host of British figures from politics and beyond.
In addition, he was for many years chairman of fund-raising of Bloodwise, Britain’s main blood cancer charity, but in recent years has become increasingly involved with mental health charities. Furthermore, he co-founded the all-party campaign, Equality4MentalHealth, which was credited in Parliament by then Chancellor George Osborne with securing an extra £600million for mental health services.
Campbell has been Humanitas Visiting Professor on media at Cambridge University, and has been honored by University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork for his contribution to the Northern Ireland Peace Process. He is on the advisory board of Portland PR, and in addition independently acts as an advisor to governments, businesses, charities, sports organizations and high profile individuals.
