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

Product Information

Having diagnosed the disease, the second half of his book abandons the conspicuously jarring notes of the minor key for the major...In a recent piece for The Guardian, Campbell cited the book that I suspect underpins much of the thinking animating the ideas coursing persuasively through his own: Our politics is a mess. Leaders who can't or shouldn't be allowed to lead. Governments that lie, and seek to undermine our democratic values. It's no surprise that so many of us feel frustrated, let down and drawn to ask, ' But what can I do?' Campbell made his first appearance on the BBC One political discussion programme Question Time on 27 May 2010. 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. The BBC refused to do this. The government later accused the BBC of behaving improperly for allowing Campbell to appear as a more in-depth version of his diaries was due to be published the following week, and a Downing Street spokesman told The Guardian, "Campbell seemed to be on because he's flogging a book next week, so the BBC haven't behaved entirely properly here." [34] Campbell said that he had waited until Labour were in opposition before appearing on the show and that the date was a coincidence as it was the only time he was free. He suggested the discord was part of a Conservative anti-BBC agenda. [34] The minister who had been scheduled to appear was the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws, who Campbell produced a picture of during the programme. Three days later, Laws resigned his post following revelations about possible irregularities in his expenses claims in The Telegraph the day before. Final Say: Alastair Campbell to answer questions on Reddit". The Independent. 19 September 2018. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018 . Retrieved 11 October 2018. 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 ]

But What Can I Do? by Alastair Campbell review: A doom

Campbell was a guest presenter of Good Morning Britain from 10 to 12 May 2021, where he presented with Susanna Reid. [51] I'm not a Lib Dem, says Alastair Campbell after Labour expulsion". BBC News. 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019 . Retrieved 29 May 2019. Jeremy Corbyn fronts cover of GQ – but rejects Campbell interview". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017 . Retrieved 9 December 2017.

I am not yet at the zealot stage. But I can no longer defend the system we have. For most of my life I did defend it, believing that it gave us strong and stable government, to quote Theresa May’s 2017 campaign mantra. Throughout his time in Downing Street, Campbell kept a diary which reportedly totalled some 2 million words. Selected extracts, titled The Blair Years, were published on 9 July 2007. Subsequent press coverage of the book's release included coverage of what Campbell had chosen to leave out, particularly in respect of the relationship between Blair and his chancellor and successor Gordon Brown. 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.

But What Can I Do? by Alastair Campbell | Waterstones

Alastair Campbell, Speaker Mentor – "Define your key message" ". The Speaker. BBC. April 2009. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009 . Retrieved 10 May 2009. When will the Establishment afford us with a fully codified Constitution available to all Citizens any place any time? Urgent discussion and action needed. The openness we have found in recent years, me telling her when the cloud is coming, has really helped us both’: Alastair Campbell with his partner, Fiona Millar. Photograph: Grégoire Bernardi/The ObserverLewis, Jason (29 October 2011). "Oil rich dictator of Kazakhstan recruits Tony Blair to help win Nobel peace prize". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 30 October 2011 . Retrieved 5 July 2013. In May 2016, the International Business Times announced that Campbell had joined it as a columnist. [47] Alongside compulsory voting there would need to be comprehensive political education at school, starting young, so that we never again face the kind of situation where, the day after the Brexit referendum, one of the most googled questions in the UK was “what is the EU?”.

What Can I Do? by Alastair Campbell | Goodreads But What Can I Do? by Alastair Campbell | Goodreads

Echoing my point ut supra, Campbell uses the words of others to both express his argument and lend it borrowed weight. More accurately, inspired by the words of others he admires, his book is sprinkled with quotes from political and cultural giants of both the past, and the present. Obama, Thunberg, Zelenskiy, Julia Gillard and François Hollande all find themselves helping to freight Campbell’s activist cargo. I asked him which of the many quotes he draws upon is his favourite : In chapters entitled Resist Cynicism and Develop a Campaigning Mindset, he cajoles and pleads younger people from every sector of society to overcome their disillusion, and to adopt the Obama mindset of Yes We Can. Shortly after Tony Blair was elected as Leader of the Labour Party in 1994, Campbell left Today to become Blair's press secretary. Having recovered and become teetotal, he told Blair about his alcoholism, which Blair did not see as a problem. In his autobiography, Blair would later reveal that Campbell had coined the name " New Labour" and described Campbell as a "genius". Campbell wrote the speech that led to the party's review of Clause IV and the birth of "New Labour". In addition to being press spokesman, Campbell was Blair's speechwriter and chief strategist. He oversaw new co-ordination and rebuttal systems which gave birth to a communications machine which became both feared and respected, and the model for modern communications in politics and business. He earned a reputation for ruthless news management which made him many enemies in the media. But even the Conservatives conceded they were partly defeated by their inability to find someone to match him. [17] 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. 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. By March 1997, many of the leading newspapers—including The Sun, once a staunch Thatcherite paper; had declared their support for Labour. [18]

In November 2021 Campbell was featured in the BBC series Winter Walks, walking in the Yorkshire Dales along Ribblesdale, from a waterfall above the market town of Settle, to Catrigg Force near Stainforth, 5mi (8.0km) to the North. [97] Campbell was born on 25 May 1957 in Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, son of Scottish veterinary surgeon Donald Campbell and his wife Elizabeth. [1] [7] Campbell's parents had moved to Keighley when his father became a partner in a local veterinary practice. [8] Donald was a Gaelic-speaker from the island of Tiree; his wife was from Ayrshire. [9] Campbell grew up with two older brothers, Donald and Graeme, and a younger sister, Elizabeth. Our politics is a mess. We have leaders who can't or shouldn't be allowed to lead. We endure governments that lie, and seek to undermine our democratic values. And we are confronted with policies that serve the interests of the privileged few. It's no surprise that so many of us feel frustrated, let down and drawn to ask, 'But what can I do?' McGowan, Michael (23 July 2019). "Q&A: Alastair Campbell compares Donald Trump to Hitler". Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019 . Retrieved 5 March 2020. Every morning as I wake, I give myself a number. From one to 10. My depression scale. So much of the day ahead will depend on that first feeling, and the mark I give to my mood.