Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster, and activist, who is 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).

Since his work for Blair, Campbell has continued to act as a freelance advisor to a number of governments and political parties, including Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania.

[10] His first piece for mainstream news journalism was coverage of the Penlee lifeboat disaster in December 1981, while a trainee on the Plymouth-based Sunday Independent, then owned by Mirror Group.

In 1982, Campbell moved to the London office of the Daily Mirror, Fleet Street's sole remaining big-circulation supporter of the Labour Party.

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.

Campbell was part of the core team that conducted the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, and he has been honoured by several Irish universities for his role in the peace process.

[21][22] On 29 May 2003, Andrew Gilligan of the BBC first alleged Campbell to have influenced the reports against the wishes of the intelligence services,[23] misrepresenting his source, Dr David Kelly, in the process.

Sir Clive Woodward recruited Campbell to manage relations with the press for the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand in 2005.

Campbell expressed an intention to one day publish the diaries in fuller form, and indicated in the introduction to the book that he did not wish to make matters harder for Brown in his new role as Prime Minister, or to damage the Labour Party.

Although his conclusion was Muhammad Ali, as part of the process, he interviewed and profiled sports stars from around the world, including Ian Botham, Nick Faldo, Ben Ainslie, Michael Phelps, Martina Navratilova, Shane Warne, Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton and Lance Armstrong.

At the opening of the edition, presenter David Dimbleby said that the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition would not allow a frontbench member of the government to appear on the show unless Campbell was dropped.

"[38][39][40] In January 2014, Campbell announced that he was joining British GQ, with a brief to conduct interviews with figures from "politics... sport, business, culture, (and) other aspects of life that I find interesting", succeeding Piers Morgan.

In his role at GQ Campbell has interviewed a wide range of public figures, including José Mourinho, Raheem Sterling, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mario Balotelli, Mo Farah and Usain Bolt from the world of sport and Tony Blair, Sadiq Khan, Nicola Sturgeon, George Osborne, John McDonnell, John Bercow, and Chuka Umunna from the world of politics.

Campbell has also conducted in-depth interviews with many other figures from public life, including Archbishop Justin Welby, Garry Kasparov and Rachel Riley.

[45] In May 2019, Campbell announced that he and his daughter Grace, a comedian and feminist, had launched a joint podcast, Football, Feminism and Everything In Between: a series of interviews with figures from politics, sport and other walks of life.

[48] In January 2022, Campbell began a series of interviews for Men's Health called Talking Heads, with a focus on mindset and well-being.

Campbell was a critic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the British government's tolerance of oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin, contrasting it with their 'cruel and shabby' treatment of Ukrainian refugees, who faced large amounts of red tape before being considered for exile.

[52] 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 helped organize and spoke at a second march and rally attended by an estimated million people in October 2019, on the day that Boris Johnson called a rare Saturday sitting in Parliament to back his Brexit deal.

[citation needed] In July 2017, Campbell was invited to speak at the French National Assembly to the newly elected MPs of President Emmanuel Macron's victorious En Marche party.

[60][61] In November 2017, he was made an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in recognition of his work in breaking down the stigma surrounding mental illness and promoting the importance of psychiatry.

He made numerous media appearances and caused controversy by saying on the Australian version of Question Time, that Donald Trump and fellow populists were "sowing the seeds of fascism".

[65] On 28 May 2019, Campbell announced that he had been expelled from the Labour Party after voting for the Liberal Democrats in that month's European elections, and that he would appeal against the decision.

[68][69][70][71] In July 2019, in the week Boris Johnson became prime minister, Campbell penned a 3,500-word open letter to Jeremy Corbyn saying he no longer wished to be re-admitted to the party despite legal advice saying he would win a court case against his expulsion.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he performed on the bagpipes in a charity song written by Martin Gillespie of Scottish band Skerryvore, "Everyday Heroes", which topped the iTunes download charts.

[86] Campbell is a keen runner, cyclist, swimmer and triathlete, having raised over half a million pounds for charity running the London Marathon in 2003.

In 2005, Campbell was played by Jonathan Cake in the Channel 4 television film The Government Inspector, based on the David Kelly Case.

[92] Campbell presented and narrated the 20 February 2012 edition of the BBC current affairs programme Panorama, which was entitled "Britain's Hidden Alcoholics".

[94] In May 2022 it was announced that Campbell would appear in the Channel 4 political entertainment series Make Me Prime Minister, due to broadcast at the end of September 2022.