Some commentators offered comparisons between A Journey and accounts of the Blair years written by other senior members of his government, particularly on Blair's relationship with Gordon Brown. David Goodhart of Prospect magazine wrote that in both Peter Mandelson's memoir The Third Man and the first volume of Alastair Campbell's Diaries (covering the 1994–97 period), "Blair is important, but a rather weak figure buffeted by events and by Gordon Brown. In Blair's own account, A Journey (in which Mandelson features hardly at all, and Gordon Brown only at the end) it is of course very different. Almost everything is driven forward by him; the new Labour project was not imminent in Britain's political history– it had to be shaped and moulded." [81] A similar theme was echoed by David Runciman in The London Review of Books, where he reflected that Mandelson's memoirs "provide a much more complete account of the Blair/Brown relationship", including details of Operation Teddy Bear, an aborted plot from 2003 to curb Brown's increasing influence as Chancellor by dividing the Treasury to create a separate Office of Budget and Delivery that would be controlled directly by the Cabinet Office. [82] Mount, Harry (1 September 2010). "Tony Blair Shouldn't Be Surprised by the Queen's Traditional Upper-Class Manners". Telegraph.co.uk. London: Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010 . Retrieved 9 November 2010.

Blair 'Broke Promise to Brown Not to Run a Third Time' ". BBC News. BBC. 14 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 November 2010 . Retrieved 9 November 2010. Campbell, Alastair (2007). The Blair Years. Random House. entry for 6 April 2002. ISBN 978-0-09-951475-6. When Campbell was a boy, he would cross the county boundary to Lancashire to watch Burnley F.C. with his father. [82] He remains a lifelong Burnley supporter and writes about their exploits in a column titled "Turf Moor Diaries" for the FanHouse UK football blog. [83] He is regularly involved in events with the club. [84] He was heavily involved in rescuing the club from potential bankruptcy, gaining the support of many high-profile public figures. He was one of the founders of the University College of Football Business, based at Burnley's stadium. [85] He is also a fan of the rugby league club Keighley Cougars, it having been a childhood dream to play for the team. [86] The Irish Diaries". lilliputpress.ie. The Lilliput Press. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017 . Retrieved 10 May 2017. 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.My Brother Donald". alastaircampbell.org. Alastair Campbell. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017 . Retrieved 11 May 2017. The Burden of Power: Countdown to Iraq (2013). Arrow. ISBN 978-0-09-951473-2 (volume four, 2001–2003) Alistair Campbell honoured at Royal College of Psychiatrists' #RCPsychAwards 2017". rcpsych.ac.uk. Royal College of Psychiatrists. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017 . Retrieved 9 November 2017. a b c Grice, Andrew (2 September 2010). "Blair's Memoirs: From No10 to No1". The Independent. Independent Print. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010 . Retrieved 2 September 2010.

Campbell wanted source revealed". BBC News. London: BBC. 22 September 2003. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011 . Retrieved 22 September 2013. 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 ] A Journey drew a mixed reception from critics. Financial Times editor Lionel Barber called it "part psychodrama, part treatise on the frustrations of leadership in a modern democracy ... written in a chummy style with touches of Mills & Boon". He wrote that it made Blair seem "likable, if manipulative; capable of dissembling while wonderfully fluent; in short, a brilliant modern politician (whatever his moans about the media)." [55] Writing in The Independent on Sunday, Geoffrey Beattie said A Journey offered an understanding of Blair's "underlying psychology." [56] John Rentoul, author of the Blair biography Tony Blair Prime Minister, was equally positive, giving particular praise to the chapter on the Iraq War. "The chapter on Iraq is tightly argued in some detail, which may persuade those with open minds to recognise that the decision to join the US invasion was a reasonable, if not very successful, one, rather than a conspiracy against life, the universe and everything decent," he said. [57] Mary Ann Sieghart, writing for The Independent said, "whatever its faults, and toe-curling passages, [ A Journey] has many good lessons on how to succeed in both opposition and government. [58]Beyond the soundbites and psychodrama, the real story of New Labour is therefore of a government which came into office on an almost unprecedented wave of public goodwill, hope, and expectation, and following a brief period of real and commendable reform, embarked in a political direction of ever increasing neoliberalisation and foreign adventurism. Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell's odd-couple podcast". Financial Times. The Financial Times. 28 March 2022. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022 . Retrieved 5 April 2022. Politics and government [ edit ] Campbell lecturing at the LSE series 'From Kennedy to Blair,' 7 July 2003

After leaving university and doing casual jobs Campbell was accepted as a trainee reporter with the Mirror Group Newspapers. Gordon, David (4 September 2010). "Tony Blair: Northern Ireland Peace Is an Inspiration to the World". Belfast Telegraph. Independent News and Media . Retrieved 9 November 2010. Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster and activist, known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman and campaign director in opposition (1994–1997), then as Downing Street Press Secretary, and as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson (1997–2000). He then became Downing Street director of communications and spokesman for the Labour Party (2000–2003). He returned as campaign director for the 2005 general election in Blair's third win. He oversaw Blair's successful 2001 UK general election campaign for re-election and also returned to assist with the successful 2005 UK general election campaign. It is perhaps natural that New Labour, a political tendency best associated with obsessive spin and image-management, has garnered a unique degree of media study and fascination. No other government has been the subject of so many column inches, books, and documentaries. Tony Blair alone has been the subject of dozens of biographies and television […]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. To an uninformed viewer, it would be easy to believe that before Blair and Brown Labour didn’t even want to win elections, let alone have the capacity to do it. John Smith’s twenty-two point polling leads by the time of his death are not mentioned.

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. [80] [81] Curtis, Polly (2009). "The end of the 'bog-standard' comprehensive". theguardian.com. "The day of the bog-standard comprehensive is over" Alastair Campbell defends 'every word' of Iraq dossier". BBC News. BBC. 12 January 2011. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010 . Retrieved 29 January 2010.This, alongside a culture that made a virtue of spin, deception, and manipulation, eroded support both within the party and across the country. Perhaps most fundamentally, the culture of political deception, beginning first with the Bernie Ecclestone affair and ending with Iraq, shook the nation’s faith in the integrity of politicians and the political process. This vacuum of public confidence in establishment politics was subsequently filled by the populist right.