But What Can I Do?: Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It

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At this point, someone arrives to whisk him away. Showtime approaches, and I duly take my seat in the Royal Hall. I look around. The audience is so mixed: here are entire families, politics A-level students in tow, and here are also thirtysomething couples, in corduroy and trainers. I do see a few groups of women, drinks in hand, but they are, perhaps, less excitable than billed. When the curtain rises – Campbell sits beneath a red spotlight, and Stewart beneath a blue – they begin by asking the crowd where they’ve travelled from. A show of hands reveals that more than half the audience is from outside Harrogate. One couple has come from south Wales, and another group from the Channel Islands. White, Michael (5 November 2001). "White vs Campbell". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007 . Retrieved 19 July 2007. Campbell clashed with Adam Boulton on Sky News about the result of the 2010 general election, with the latter being reduced to shouting over both Campbell and the show's presenter. [32]

In March 2022 he launched a new podcast, The Rest is Politics, discussing politics home and abroad with former Tory cabinet minister Rory Stewart. It became an instant hit, rising by week 2 to the top of the Apple UK podcast charts, and leading to calls that he and Stewart form a new centre ground party. [52] [53]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] 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.

Even the idea of more support groups would be a step forward. I know from family experience the power and reach of Alcoholics Anonymous and its offshoot Al-Anon (for families of addicts). For every person struggling with depression, there are an awful lot more struggling to help them. We can all benefit from sharing those struggles.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. [12] Return to work [ edit ]