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

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Marriott, James (18 March 2022). "The Rest Is Politics review — notes from the political wilderness". The Times. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022 . Retrieved 18 August 2022. Phillips, Adam (25 October 2008). "Feel the fear". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008 . Retrieved 31 October 2008. I feel that there are enough people genuinely concerned and who want to make a difference and change the nature of political debate. Equally, I worry how many people are just switching off and turning away from the political debate altogether. That helps nobody but the charlatans. In a serious democracy where people took their role in the debate seriously there is no way in the world that a Johnson or a Trump would ever get to the most powerful positions in their countries. On a good day, I think it can never happen again. At other times I worry that defeating individual populists is not the same thing as defeating populism. The reason I have written the book is to try to encourage people – not just the young but anyone who is worried about the direction of travel – that we all do have some agency. The question is how we use it.’

The Happy Depressive: In Pursuit of Personal and Political Happiness (2012). Arrow. ISBN 0-09-957982-0

On 28 May 2019, Campbell announced that he had been expelled from the Labour Party after voting for the Liberal Democrats in that month's European elections, and that he would appeal against the decision. [69] He also questioned the speed of his expulsion compared to the treatment of Labour colleagues accused of anti-semitism. In response, shadow minister Dawn Butler stated that it was common knowledge that voting for another party would result in automatic exclusion. [70] MPs, he stresses, don’t have to be rotten, corrupt, self-serving; they can effect change. Wary of “dadsplaining”, he speaks to millennials for their perspective, and is admiring of Greta Thunberg, a lone young voice who spoke up against the global establishment. If she can, so can others.

Taylor, Jerome (31 October 2011). "The two faces of Tony Blair". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011 . Retrieved 5 July 2013. Does the scale help? I find it does. Ruling out one and 10 helps, but I have definitely been at nine. In Australia recently, where I was announced as a global ambassador for Australians for Mental Health, a road transport official talked to me about the official suicide statistics. He said the real figures were totally underestimated “because so many road traffic deaths, which are classed as accidents, are actually almost certainly suicides.” That really resonated with me. Politics and government [ edit ] Campbell lecturing at the LSE series 'From Kennedy to Blair,' 7 July 2003 a b "Alastair Campbell 'expelled' from Labour Party". BBC News. 28 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019 . Retrieved 28 May 2019. History of Aireworth Veterinary Surgery". Archived from the original on 30 December 2011 . Retrieved 11 July 2012.Immediately after the UK's referendum on membership of the European Union in June 2016, Campbell stated that he thought it was "the worst decision Britain had made in his lifetime" and would do what he could to change people's minds. In addition to establishing The New European, he was one of the early movers in the People's Vote campaign for a referendum on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations. [55] By seven, even the act of speaking is hard. With eight, I will try to clear out as much of the day’s diary as I can, certainly no social engagements, only professional ones that really cannot be called off. At nine, even they go, because now bed is the only place to be. The third part is more about how to get your message across, how to campaign and, finally, how to get into politics. It is not the only way to change the world, but it remains one of the most important. Alastair Campbell: My dinners with Putin". indipendant.ie. Irish Indipendant. 13 March 2022. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022 . Retrieved 5 April 2022.

Alastair's Turf Moor Diaries". football.fanhouse.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 December 2009 . Retrieved 30 December 2009. Campbell has described himself as a pro-faith atheist, and his statement "we don't do God" is one of his more repeated soundbites. However, he was asked in late 2017 by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, whom Campbell had interviewed for GQ, to contribute to his book on the meaning of Christmas. Part of The Speaker’s mission is to inspire a new generation in politics and improve young people’s understanding of politics; from breaking down complex stories, or delivering resources to teach about our political system. Campbell makes this a large theme of his book and he is a strong believer in the importance of good political education in schools. 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. 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?'Political Strategist, New European editor-at-large, mental health campaigner and co-host of the country’s Number 1 podcast, The Rest is Politics, Alastair Campbell comes to UCL for a special opening event of the UCL Department of Political Science's Policy & Practice seminar series for 2023-24 in partnership with the European Institute and UCL Policy Lab. Alex Jennings (I)". Internet Movie Database. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009 . Retrieved 25 July 2009. Campbell with Tony Blair in 2001, when he was Blair’s director of communications. Photograph: Ben Curtis/PA Archive/Press Association Ima Jones, Nicholas (2000). Sultans of Spin: The Media and the New Labour Government. Orion Books. ISBN 0-7528-2769-3. Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, author, strategist, broadcaster and activist, known for his political roles during Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour Party. Campbell worked as Blair's spokesman and campaign director in opposition (1994–1997), then as Downing Street Press Secretary, and as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson (1997–2000). He then became Downing Street director of communications and spokesman for the Labour Party (2000–2003). He returned as campaign director for the 2005 general election in Blair's third win.

I know my depression will always be a part of me. I’ve accepted that now. I still have suicidal thoughts and dark days, and I always will. But at least now I can recognise them, I feel them coming on, and I can deal with them better than I used to. There may one day be a vaccine for Covid-19. But I doubt there will ever be a vaccine or a cure for depression. It is part of the human condition; it is certainly part of mine. I’ve spent decades learning to live with that. And now, through trial and error, through medication and therapy, through highs and lows, above all through grief and love, I have finally got to know my enemy. I live better for having dealt with it. And I deal with it, through living better. I hope that for some of you out there, this book can help you do the same. In March 2022 he launched a new podcast, The Rest is Politics, discussing politics home and abroad with former Tory cabinet minister Rory Stewart. It became an instant hit, rising by week 2 to the top of the Apple UK podcast charts, and leading to calls that he and Stewart form a new centre ground party. [52] [53] Mayhew, Freddy (31 May 2016). "Alastair Campbell and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown among new IB Times writers". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017 . Retrieved 13 April 2017.Campbell, 65, is well-placed to opine on the subject. A former communications director for Tony Blair, he seemed less Machiavellian than, say, Dominic Cummings, and instead determined – often belligerently – to do the right thing by his country, even if half the country was convinced he was wrong. But then, such is politics. Despite quitting in 2003, he’s never really left the field because he can’t. People, he suggests, are always coming up to him, either to blame him for New Labour’s failings, or else to ask what “we” can do to improve things. His book is, in part, an answer. My Brother Donald". alastaircampbell.org. Alastair Campbell. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017 . Retrieved 11 May 2017. Campbell took part in the Mental Health Foundation's takeover of Channel Four for Mental Health Awareness Week 2017, acting as a celebrity continuity announcer. For the Mental Health Awareness Week two years later he broadcast the documentary Alastair Campbell: Depression and Me, exploring different ways of dealing and coping with depression. It was part of a BBC series drawing attention to different mental health conditions. [67] Campbell, Alastair. "A lament for my lost piper". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017 . Retrieved 11 May 2017.