That being said, I think when he starts to answer the question posed in the title, it's a very good read. He persuaded Cabinet Secretary Sir Robin Butler that government communications had to be modernised, and the government set up the Mountfield Review. I would love the chance to go through my ideas with someone who could then let me know where they would best fit in , or indeed if they are worth pursuing. Three days later, Laws resigned his post following revelations about possible irregularities in his expenses claims in The Telegraph the day before.

This started with England rugby player Maro Itoje and former athlete turned sports politician Sebastian Coe.There's a wide range of free online learning on the OU’s site OpenLearn, including the short courses Writing what you know, Start writing fiction, and the OpenLearn Scotland Hub of resources on our nation's history, society and culture. Campbell played an important role in the run-up to the 1997 UK general election, working with Peter Mandelson to co-ordinate Labour's successful election campaign. Overall an inspiring and instructive book on how to be more engaged with politics and enacting change, if a little preachy and overly-optimistic at times. Immediately after the UK's referendum on membership of the European Union in June 2016, Campbell stated that he thought it was "the worst decision Britain had made in his lifetime" and would do what he could to change people's minds.

Campbell worked again for the Labour Party as Campaign Director in the run-up to their third consecutive victory at the 2005 general election. He was an outspoken critic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the Tory government's tolerance of oligarchs close to Putin in contrast with their 'cruel and shabby' treatment of Ukrainian refugees, who faced enormous red tape before being considered for exile. I also think maybe some of the answers as to why people voted for Brexit could have delved deeper into the reasons why. He also worked hard to win support from the national media for the Labour Party, particularly from newspapers that for many years had been anti-Labour. I suspect that for many people who want to by this book, the first few chapters will be simply telling them things they already know.

But that is fine - Campbell always shows how he personally uses the techniques to get through his own struggles, rather than saying they are a mental health panacea. After 2016 - Brexit, Trump, rise of populism, nasty social media etc - and then the horrors of the Tory governments since, I’d disengaged with politics and didn’t want to be associated with a country that supported nationalist, isolationist and racist policy and practice. Alastair Campbell pulls no punches with this hard hitting critique of the parlous state of British politics. You may disagree with AC politics but it is much harder to disagree with his analysis of our politics and the critical sate it is in now.