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13 February 2025
Random House announce publication plans of AC diaries
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Post
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12 May 2010
I thought you might be interested in the release going out from Random House this afternoon about my diaries. They also have pictures of the covers but I am useless at getting pictures up here without my trusty website expert who is too depressed about the Cameron-Clegg love-in to work! I'm sure someone will find a way of getting them on here
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ALASTAIR CAMPBELL'S FULL DIARIES TO BE PUBLISHED
Alastair Campbell's long-awaited diaries will be published in full following Gordon Brown's resignation as Prime Minister, Random House announced today.
Extracts from Mr Campbell's diaries were published as The Blair Years in 2007 and he always intended to publish the full diaries in chronological order. The first of the four volumes will be published on 3rd June. Entitled Prelude to Power, it covers the period from John Smith's death in May 1994 to Tony Blair becoming Prime Minister in May 1997. It opens with forty pages of hitherto unpublished material recording the discussions that led to Tony Blair, rather than Gordon Brown, becoming leader of the Labour Party.
In total, the period covered in Prelude to Power accounted for 180 pages of The Blair Years and at 744 pages long, 75% of the material in thisfirst volume of the diaries is previously unpublished. Prelude to Power records in often intimate detail Labour's return to office after the Thatcher-Major years. It was prepared for publication some time ago and is now being printed.
Hutchinson Publishing Director Caroline Gascoigne said: "With elections and campaigns so fresh in people's minds, and with so much focus on the legacy of the Blair-Brown governments, the timing of publication could not be better for us. Prelude to Power is a truly riveting read. I don't believe there has ever been a diary quite like this from someone so close to the centre of power, and who has remained there ever since. I know that people have assumed the unpublished material is all about the Blair-Brown relationship, but it is about so much more than that."
Alastair Campbell said, "I am pleased that I published The Blair Years when I did, because it was part of the debate about Tony Blair's legacy. Both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are aware that I am now publishing the full diaries, which I believe record in a way that no other document could, the ins and outs, ups and downs, the progress and the setbacks of an extraordinary period in UK political history.
"Yesterday was a sad day for me, in that 13 years of Labour government came to an end. It was also a reminder, despite difficulties along the way, of how much has been achieved and how much Britain has changed. Working with Gordon on his recent election campaign, and in the past few days as he has sought to steer Britain through the complex constitutional issues thrown up by the result, I have also been reminded once more that the New Labour team is a collection of very remarkable individuals.
"It was particularly poignant for me that when Tony Blair telephoned Gordon Brown just before he announced his resignation, the two other people in the room were Peter Mandelson and myself. We were all there at the beginning, and all there as Labour's period in office ended. A lot went right, and some things went wrong, along the way. But the New Labour story is one I am proud of, and privileged to have witnessed and participated in. Prelude to Power is the first volume of that story in full."
Notes for editors:
Prelude to Power by Alastair Campbell will be published in hardback on 3rd June, priced £25
The Blair Years was a Sunday Times Number 1 bestseller and sold 230,000 copies
Future volumes of The Alastair Campbell Diaries are likely to be published at 6 monthly intervals:
Volume 2 - Power and the People
Volume 3 - Power and Responsibility
Volume 4 - The Pressures of Power
CONTACT:
Charlotte Bush, Publicity Director, Cornerstone, Random House
So there you go .. get on Amazon all you political junkies. And remember you can still get individually signed copies of The Blair Years and raise cash for Labour by visiting http://www.alastaircampbell.org/bookshop.php.
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Recent Posts
Is anyone else reminded of David Steel’s Spitting Image personna??
Would you agreee that If Sir Sugar and Sir Branson could reform this country to greater strenghts that would better than C+c
Si la tendance se maintient, l’intégrale de ton journal aura 3351 pages. Aïe!
Ohh David, David!!!
Looking forward to it Alastair!
I was only 6 years old when Labour took power in 1997 but I remember the morning after the election vividly, watching Gordon Brown resign last night really did seem as though an era was coming to an end, both politically and personally.
The New Labour Project may have come to some sort of end now but no doubt Labour will be back. I must say that I wholeheartedly believe the last 13 years of Labour Government has made Britain a fairer, more understanding and open nation for me to have grown up in and for millions of other Britons both now and in the future, I think that will be its finest legacy.
So now we know why u peddled the TV this week you sneaky b*rstard – I think I’ll wait until all your shady sycophants on here read the Diaries and very sadly pour undoubted praise on you – I hope you include all the lies and deceit i’d even read it then
We have just seen the first tendril of a fascist state taking root in Britain. Vote of no confidence is now set at 55%. It’s a sham and a disgrace to our political system. Is this the new politics, promised by Cameron and Clegg during the campaign?
This is the tactics of Robert Mugabe, not a British PM. Teresa May as Home Secretary? Hello? Cameron has replaced Chris Grayling, with someone who also voted against gay rights! What’s next? William Hague as Europe Minister? Nick Griffin invited in as Race Relations Minister? It’s all going tits-up by the minute, and it’s only Day 1.
Just wait till Osbourne starts, then we will see the real agenda. Already Mervyn king, is cuddling up to them with cosy comments, despite every economists of standing, warning the serious risk to early cuts.
They have to be pressurised to act responsibly, or they will put a wrecking ball through the economy. Cable will keep his mouth shut though, and just be grateful for a position. That’s him AND Osbourne, under the same roof running the economy. An economy that wouldn’t be there, if Labour had listened to their advice.
Fortunately, we had Gordon Brown, and Alistair Darling to head off a global depression. When the World stopped, and didn’t know what to do – they did and they acted.
Obama should show some courtesy to Gordon Brown, and forget about Cameron. Cameron has done nothing, and will do nothing. It is Gordon Brown who deserves the credit, that America still has an economy. He has been gone only a day, and we are starting to realise what we have lost.
I must say, it was very poignant what you wrote about Tony Blair’s phone call Alistair. The four of you, connected by telephone, at the end. Your path is clear; it is to make sure that your legacy, is not lost to the next generation. The fight is now to get a Labour government, and we must start by ensuring the public don’t rely on the conventional media. People must be shown the right path, if they want a society built on fairness and compassion.
The fight for social justice and progressive values the public want, are still at the heart of the Labour movement, and always will be. It is here, where the path always leads.
Matt Holmes2010-05-12 17:44:18 Would you agreee that If Sir Sugar and Sir Branson could reform this country to greater strenghts that would better than C+c
………………………………………………..
so can you explain how they would deal with afghanistan and iraq?
Gordon and Sarah’s departure from Downing St was noth dignified and poignant as we know what is ahead of us – apres nous….. It must have been doubly heartbreaking for you as you have lived through it all. However Milliband or Burnham will back in Downing St within 18 months
I watched politics answer to Ant and Dec in the Rose Garden of Downing St – pass the sick bag. More fascinating was Vince Cable’s arrival at the Treasury with Osborne – a marriage made in hell. My late Dad used to call the Liberals ‘Tories without the guts’ – he will be smiling in heaven
I am so reminded of the Spitting Image of David Steel. It will all end in tears – hoprfully. Why Deputy PM? He should have gone for a department.
As a Labour supporter whos nightmare came true last night with Cameron stood outside numner 10, im begining to feel alot better and optimistic after the sickly love in between Clegg and Cameron today. Both parties have sold out, both sides are not happy at all and to say this is a fragile goverment is an understatement, the marriage of Anna Nicole Smith to a Texan 89 year old billionaire was more believable than this marriage. As long as we pick right leader and regroup, stick together i believe we would be in with a chance of returning to power later this year or next. At some point, soon i hope this will all fall apart at the seams. We were right not to deal with Lib Dems as we havent sold out and when these 2 balls it up, we will be there as the only united stable party.. with the help of angry Lib Dem supporters
Great news re. the published of the diaries in full. Can you tell us when the audiobook will be available for download?
Boulton- what a P@*!c (peach!). I really am wishing we lived in a world without media right now so that I could pretend DC was just a bad dream gone wrong, I mean a Chancellor who can’t even add up. I’m seriously depressed – bring back Bambi!!!
Thank you so much for the boulton debacle … It was the highlight of the election!
Nick Robinson is peddling the story that Clegg kept phoning GB last night, pleading him not to go. Please address this drivel Alistair, as it’s clearly a ruse to pull the Lib-dems away from reaching out to the Labour party. They know that the party detest it, and are using the BBC to spread pro Lib-Con propaganda. Go for the jugular!
was browns departure dignified. It was not. It was disastrous. Yes we have a hung parliament. the more stable option had to be the Lib Dem and Tory option. Lab/Lib Dem would have had greater instability .
Had Brown succeeded in his quest for Lib Dem alliance, internationally he would have been viewed as an extremely week PM. Oversea politician would have taken no notice of Brown, knowing full well that his alliance was weak, here today gone in the next 30 seconds. It would have been disastrous for UK. Yes Lib/Con alliance is stronger has a number of weak points, but for the short term it will be viewed as a stronger Alliance, like it or not better for UK for the next 18 months or so. Like it or not it is in our best interest. Thank god for Milliband, in how he dealt with the discussion with the Lib Dems, sent them packing, for the right reasons he stabbed Gordon in the back.
Shrewd move from Gordon to drag the Lib Dems into going public about talking to Labour. The Tories had to make more concessions which will store up more tensions for Dave to try to deal with. This will lead him to appease his right wing increasing dissatisfaction in Clegg’s lot. One of these will start to tear themselves apart. Just wait for European issues to expose these fault lines!
The Labour leadership should be an interesting contest. Could Ed Balls and David Milliband form a coalition under the name of Ed Milliband?
Labour have a lot of work to do. 29% of the vote is better than it could have been but it needs to reach 40% and beyond, especially if the Libdem vote unravels. That 40% figure will take years unless the coalition blows it – even then the Tories` 36% will be hard to reduce for at least the first year or so. That said we need to be ready for an early election. 3 months (the period that commentators are stating) is too long to elect a new leader – what if the election was only a couple of months after that? There wouldn`t be much time for the public to hear what the new leader has to say and also less time to review and revise policies once in post. 6 weeks is long enough to choose someone – a whole general election campaign lasts about 4 weeks after all.
just joined labour.we’ll fight them on the beaches.heard your interview on talksport.we luv you!!!
I joined the Labour party today for the first time. Can someone in the party announce how many disaffected Lib Dems or tactical voters also joined?
I have posted a few comments over the past months but they never seem to appear. Is there something I am doing wrong?
Great to see you back in the frame. The coalition…Its going to be a roller coaster. Easy now, just cranking it up very slowly to the top, wave to those below. When the liberals start screaming the faster they will go.
Well done on giving Adam Boulton a roasting! He and Sky News deserve it. Of course it’s no suprise that Murdoch and his empire are so biased.
The 55% thing (no, not Alastair’s royalties on his book )… surely that’s the Lib Dem backbenchers and wider party totally stitched up.
We need your support now but if things cut up rough and you want to bail out there’s sod all you can do to bring down the government.
Teresa May as Home Secretary? They can’t be serious.She has always appeared to be one of their weaker spokespeople. A post that is seriously above her station and an indication of the lack of depth in the new Government, even with the Lib Dems.Also shows the lack of women at the top in their administration. Tokenism gone mad.Despite yesterday’s circus, I can’t help feeling that this coalition will fall apart within a year.
I see you are cashing in whilst you can. Every cloud has a silver lining doesn’t it?
Though I vote Tory I actually enjoy all the political banter that appears on this site. The point everyone is missing is that someone, somehow had to form a new government and it was obvious to most people that Labour couldn’t stomach a coalition.
What Cameron and Clegg have done, with tremendous nerve, is to move the politics of this country into a totally new dimension, in the swiftness of a week.
By contrast the David Miliband candicacy and all the other candidates who are yet to throw their hat into the ring are already beginning to look like ancient history. ‘Same old, same old’ just about sums it all up, and to spend weeks and weeks trailing around the country and boring the pants of people is not what is required.
If Labour want to make a swift comeback they are going to have shift their leadership election immediately into a higher, fresher gear. Prospective candidates who chickened their previous opportunities are just wasting everyone’s time and the future of the Labour Party.
New Politics.I have just watched on BBC News the same failed politicians sat around the cabinet table. They will try to claim that they have succeeded in growing the economy over the next twelve months. The electorate are not that stupid.
Labour voters should be pleased that Gordon and his team were not prepared to compromise the Manifesto to cling to power The love in won’t last
AC, I’m a Ghanaian and live in Ghana. I must say I love the politics of the Labour party and in particular that of Tony Blair with you in the background. I think the Labour party is the only party which has the conscience and intellect to engage the world in a way meaningful way to reduce conflicts, poverty and disease in a manner that can make Britain Great again. It is my wish that you do whatever you can to get Labour back in power. I really would like to learn a few things from you but do not know how to get started.
All previous moulds have been broken, as the public refused to believe the diet of spin you were feeding them through the politicians mouths.
The broad nature of the coalition has destroyed totally your ability to stand on the middle ground. There is only room for you now on the far left, and into the wilderness for generations.
“Progressive politics” was the mantra: all power and control to the centre was the practice. The public caught on and have grown up overnight.
You will have to “change the record” as the chipped one is now defunct.
Well, like your old mate Tony you didn’t hang around making money out of public office. Although at least he was elected. Talking of silver linings at least we should now hear less of you and the equally deceitful Peter Mandleson.
Goodbye Campbell, Mandy, Brown, Adonis and all the other unelected spinners! We’re all delighted to see you go! P.S. Don’t come back.