The son of a Pennine vet, Alastair Campbell read modern languages at Cambridge before spending a decade in journalism, including a spell as political editor of the Daily Mirror. He began working for Tony Blair in 1994, then became the Prime Minister's Chief Press Secretary after the Labour Party's 1997 election victory.
Campbell
was one of the most controversial figures in government, caricatured by the
press as a master of the 'dark art' of spin. So close was he to the Prime
Minister that he was dubbed 'the second most powerful man in Britain' and 'the
real Deputy Prime Minister'.
He
stepped down as Downing Street Director of Communications and Strategy on 29th
August 2003, drawing to a close nine years at the side of Tony Blair. In his
resignation speech he said:
'I look back with pride and satisfaction at the role I have been able
to play in helping to modernise the Labour Party, in helping the party secure
two great election victories and, more important, in the help I have given the
Prime Minister and other ministers in making the historic changes the government
has made to our economy, our society and Britain's role in the world. Politics,
to me, has always been about having an affirmative agenda for changing your
country, and the lives of its people, for the better.'
Campbell
has now returned to newspaper journalism, having signed a £100,000 deal to
write a column for The Times' sports section.