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Unleadership – a new word that sadly sums up Britain in these worrying times

Though some make a case for Winston Churchill and Elizabeth the First as the greatest ever Briton, for me nobody gets near William Shakespeare. He is one of the reasons English has become the pre-emin... Continue

Europe’s leaders need to be honest about what they really think, and what they really can and cannot do

Another day, another summit, another round of ups and downs, then stand by for another set of bold declarations that Europe's leaders have found the solutions to the current crisis ... again. With eve... Continue

8 December 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Merkel, Sarko and Cameron will need all their communications skills to win the new arguments in Europe

I'm off to Dunkirk today for a conference of French communications professionals, Cap' Com, asking themselves whether the public still believe 'la communication publique.' The answer is that sometime... Continue

6 December 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Cameron and Osborne could do worse than call in Brown and Darling for a private chat

I was speaking at a dinner last night to businessmen and women who know a lot more about how the economy works than I do. So I was a bit alarmed to see how many were nodding along when I suggested tha... Continue

10 November 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Rarely can the summit smiles, backslaps and trumpeteering have seemed so incongruous

I suppose our leaders have to do that smiling thing as they arrive at summits (though I can't think they and we would all be happier if a lot of the ceremonials were scrapped, the trumpeteers confined... Continue

3 November 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Did nobody at the eurozone crisis summit ask Papandreou about the R-word?

Did the word 'referendum' cross anyone's mind, let alone anyone's lips, at the eurozone crisis summit last week? It certainly didn't appear in any of the coverage I read. Could it be, once more, that... Continue

1 November 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Royal and honours tinkering, and an odd suggestion re women – short haul for Cameron’s long haul flights

Perth in Western Australia is a lovely place, but I suspect David Cameron wishes the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting could have been held in the equally lovely Scottish namesake. No matter ho... Continue

29 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

With crisis seemingly averted for now, Europe’s leaders need to explain the issues better

The mood music out of the eurozone crisis summit was pretty good, the reactions not bad, and so the sense is of disaster averted. The problem is that further difficult steps now have to be taken, and ... Continue

27 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

A (very long) essay on political communications, French style

The post has just arrived and in it a very nice surprise, the discovery that Jacques Seguela, one-time adviser to President Mitterrand, now close confidant of President and Madame Sarkozy (indeed he i... Continue

19 October 2011

Posted by Alastair Campbell

Alastair Campbell is a writer, communicator and strategist best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. Still active in politics and campaigns in Britain and overseas, he now splits his time between writing, speaking, broadcasting, charities and consultancy.

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