writer, podcaster,
communicator, strategist

Latest

238. Question Time: Liz Truss, climate change deniers, and why print media is so polarised

What actions can government take to mitigate the impact of smartphones on the mental health of children? What are the advantages and disadvantages of voting for an independent Mayor? With all... Continue

238. Question Time: Liz Truss, climate change deniers, and why print media is so polarised

What actions can government take to mitigate the impact of smartphones on the mental health of children? What are the advantages and disadvantages of voting for an independent Mayor? With all... Continue

237. Iran, Israel, and the Middle East: Stopping the slide into all-out war

How will Israel respond to Iran’s attack? What is Joe Biden’s long-term plan for Ukraine? What has Liz Truss' new book revealed about her short spell in Downing Street?Join Rory and Alast... Continue

Alastair Campbell’s Diary: The Mail is hiding scandals of its own

The paper’s attacks on Angela Rayner reek of hypocrisy and double standards... Continue

69. The brutal truth about net zero and how to vanquish climate populists, with Dieter Helm

Is net zero 2030 impossible to achieve - and is it a mistake to pursue it? Should governments be more brutal with climate investment? Are events like COP a waste of time?Rory and Alastair are... Continue

236. Question Time: The fight to be Donald Trump’s VP nominee

Who will Trump pick as his running mate? How much do you know about ‘Project 2025’? What’s the story behind Angela Rayner’s tax affairs?Join Rory and Alastair for TRIP Question Time a... Continue

Sunak looks like he is toast, but too many don’t knows for Labour to get complacent

A new development for The Rest Is Politics podcast this week: we have tied up with JL Partners, a polling company Rory Stewart first got to know well when running for London Mayor, and who also did t... Continue

235. What Britain really thinks of politics

Are the Tories in danger of being overtaken by Reform UK? Should polling instruct or inform political decisions? Who is the country’s least popular politician?Join Rory and Alastair for the... Continue

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The Rest Is Politics

18 Apr 2024

238. Question Time: Liz Truss, climate change deniers, and why print media is so polarised

What actions can government take to mitigate the impact of smartphones on the mental health of children? What are the advantages and disadvantages of voting for an independent Mayor? With all eyes focused on the Middle East, what is important but flying under the radar this week?

Two men who’ve been at the heart of the political world – former Downing Street Director of Communications and Strategy Alastair Campbell and cabinet minister Rory Stewart – join forces from across the political divide.

Leading

15 Apr 2024

69. The brutal truth about net zero and how to vanquish climate populists, with Dieter Helm

Is net zero 2030 impossible to achieve - and is it a mistake to pursue it? Should governments be more brutal with climate investment? Are events like COP a waste of time?

Every Monday, Rory and Alastair interrogate, converse with, and interview some of the world’s biggest names – from both inside and outside of politics – about life, leadership, or leading the way in their chosen field.

Books

Alastair Campbell’s diaries 2023

A thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable chronicle of our editor-at-large’s year, illustrated by Martin Rowson and Richard Jolley.

But What Can I Do?

The bestselling new book from Alastair Campbell, on why politics has gone so wrong, and how you can help fix it. Part call to arms, part practical handbook, But What Can I Do? will prove required reading for anyone who wants to make a difference.

Winners and how they succeed

Alastair Campbell knows all about winning. As Tony Blair’s chief spokesman and strategist he helped guide the Labour Part…

Living Better

Living Better is Alastair Campbell’s honest, moving and life affirming account of his lifelong struggle with depression. It is an…

The Happy Depressive

In Pursuit of Personal and Political Happiness

Saturday Bloody Saturday

A Game More Serious Than Life or Death

Diaries Volume 8: Rise and Fall of the Olympic Spirit, 2010 – 2015

It’s 2010 and Britain stands at a crossroads. After thirteen years in power, Labour find themselves out in the cold as David Cameron takes office – with a little help from the Liberal Democrats.

Diaries Volume 7: From Crash to Defeat, 2007 – 2010

Caught in the no man’s land between being a key figure in Downing Street and the relative anonymity of the world outside politics, Alastair Campbell finds himself being torn in several directions.

Diaries Volume 6: From Blair to Brown, 2005 – 2007

After helping Tony Blair to secure a historic third term in office, Alastair Campbell might have hoped to make good his long-planned escape from Downing Street. Blair, and Gordon Brown, had other ideas.

Diaries Volume 5: Outside, Inside, 2003 – 2005

This eagerly anticipated volume picks up where its predecessor left off, with Campbell standing down as Tony Blair’s director of communications in 2003.

Diaries Volume 4: The Burden of Power: Countdown to Iraq

The Burden of Power is the fourth volume of Alastair Campbell’s diaries, and perhaps the most eagerly awaited given the ground it covers.

Diaries Volume 3: Power & Responsibility

It begins amid conflict in Kosovo, and ends on September 11, 2001, a day which immediately wrote itself into the history books, changing the course of both the Bush presidency and the Blair premiership.

Diaries Volume 2: Power and the People 1997 – 1999

Power and the People is the second of four volumes, and covers the first two years of New Labour government, beginning with their landslide victory at the polls in 1997.

Diaries Volume 1: Prelude to Power

Volume 1 details the extraordinary tensions between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as they resolved the question as to which one should stand to become Labour leader.

The Blair Years

The Blair Years is the most compelling and revealing account of contemporary politics you will ever read. Taken from….

The Irish Diaries (1994 – 2003)

This newly edited one-volume edition focuses on one of the Blair government’s biggest successes, the Northern Ireland peace process.

Maya

Maya Lowe is one of the world’s most beautiful film stars.

All In The Mind: A Novel

Emily is a traumatised burns victim, Arta a Kosovan refugee recovering from a rape. David Temple is a longterm depressive, while the Rt Hon Ralph Hall MP lives in terror of his drink problem being exposed.

My Name Is

She likes a drink. Everyone has a problem.