Alastair Campbell

Alastair Campbell is a sought after public speaker at events around the world and is best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. Drawing on his experience of ten years alongside Tony Blair, and his considerable understanding of the modern media, he specialises in strategic communication, leadership, crisis management.

Before being asked by Tony Blair to be his press secretary and Official Spokesman, Alastair was a political editor and the paper’s chief political columnist at the Mirror and at the Today.

For three years, he played a key role helping to create New Labour and return the Party to power. After the 1997 election he became the Prime Minister’s Chief Press Secretary and Official Spokesman during Labour’s first term.
After helping New Labour win a second landslide election victory, he became Director of Communications and Strategy until 2003.

In recent years has become increasingly involved with mental health charities and causes, speaking about his own experience of depression, psychosis and addiction, and of his brother Donald’s lifelong struggle with schizophrenia.

In October 2008 Alastair broadcast an award-winning one hour documentary on BBC2 about his own breakdown in 1986. Both the film, Cracking Up, and All In The Mind, won considerable praise from mental health charities and campaign groups for helping to break down the taboo surrounding mental health, leading to his election as Mind Champion of the Year award in May 2009. He made a further BBC documentary, ‘My Depression and Me’ in 2019, which he then turned into a best-selling book, Living Better: How I Learned to Survive Depression.

A former ‘Mind Champion of the Year’, he is an ambassador for the Time to Change campaign to raise awareness about mental illness, ambassador for Alcohol Concern, patron of Maytree, the country’s only charity for the suicidal, and of Kidstime, which supports the children of mentally ill parents. He co-founded the all-party campaign, Equality4MentalHealth, which was credited in Parliament by then Chancellor George Osborne with securing an extra £600 million for mental health services.

He is an active supporter of the Heads Together campaign headed be Prince William, his wife Kate, and Prince Harry. In November 2017 Campbell was awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in recognition of his leadership role in breaking down the stigma surrounding mental illness, and in fighting for better services.

Alastair Campbell has written seventeen books in the past fourteen years, including ten volumes of diaries, four novels, two personal memoirs on depression and the pursuit of happiness, and Winners and How They Succeed, a Number 1 best-selling analysis of what it takes to win in politics, business and sport.

What he offers:
Dozens of testimonials from a wide variety of businesses, organisations and conference organisers have paid tribute to his skills as an engaging and innovative speaker able to apply his insights and experience to the work of others with wit and passion. He liaises directly with event organisers in advance so as to tailor a presentation to their specific needs. Often controversial, and always prepared to speak his mind, he is willing, indeed keen, to make a question and answer session part of his presentations.