Alastair Campbell once helped Tony Blair to a landslide victory as an adviser. Here he talks about why he thinks the current Labour leader, Keir Starmer, is brittle but the right next prime minister.
It is not that common that a Briton wants to conduct an interview in German. Alastair Campbell, however, enthusiastically agrees when the star suggests exactly that to him. The 67-year-old once studied German as a second subject at Cambridge University and is happy about opportunities to practice. From 1994 to 2003 he was press spokesman and close advisor to former party leader and Prime Minister Tony Blair and played a key role in the success of “New Labour”. After the Brexit referendum, the pro-European Campbell increasingly came into conflict with the party’s pro-Brexit course under Jeremy Corbyn and was thrown out of the party in 2019 because he voted for the Liberal Democrats in the European elections.
Campbell is the author of 19 books, and in addition to politics, he has also written very openly about his long-standing battle with depression. For two years he has hosted the podcast “The Rest is Politics” together with ex-Tory Rory Stewart.
During the Covid lockdowns in the UK, Campbell brushed up on his language skills in two online courses offered by the Goethe Institute. Only now and then does he have to switch to English during the conversation.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
