Line #3 Creator/AlastairCampbell


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hot_jumper_2_small_6283.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Determinator}} "There is something in me that makes me see things through."]]]]
3	->''"Fuck off and cover something important you twats!"''
4	-->--'''Email sent to BBC journalists by Campbell in 2005'''
5
6	->''"Final sentence of earlier email probably a bit colourful and personal considering we have never actually met but I'm sure you share the same sense of humour as your star presenter Mr P[axman]."''
7	-->--'''Follow-up email'''
8
9	Best known to some as the inspiration for [[Series/TheThickOfIt Malcolm Tucker]], but to everyone else as UsefulNotes/TonyBlair's official spin doctor, Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a former political journalist who switched sides in 1994 to help New Labour deal with the press. Over the next nine years he entrenched his already fearsome reputation as a ManipulativeBastard - thanks in no small part to resentful journos, not to mention comedians who [[PlayedForLaughs played his aggressive persona for laughs.]] (For more context see UsefulNotes/BritishPoliticalSystem.)
10
11	In 2003 he resigned from government and has since spread himself between the lecture circuit, publishing his diaries, charity fundraising, and writing novels. He did return to fight for the Labour Party in the 2005 and 2010 general elections, but unlike his long-time colleague and frenemy UsefulNotes/PeterMandelson, has yet to commit to a full time political comeback. Like Mandelson, he carries a lot of toxic baggage; he is inseparable in the minds of many from the 2003 Iraq War and subsequent suicide of weapons inspector David Kelly.
12
13	He's also a [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball football nut]], alleged Scot, [[OldShame former softporn writer]] (under the PenName 'The Riviera Gigolo'), suspected former sex worker, Francophone, Germanophone, triathlete, and bagpipe player. He's shared a pitch with Diego Maradona. But he never talks about it.
14
15	Recently, he was expelled from the Labour Party for voting for the Liberal Democrats (like many Labour members, he was unhappy with the party's refusal to be 100% pro-remain on Brexit) in the European Parliament elections. Of course, he still identifies himself as Labour (and decidedly ''not'' Lib Dem).
16
17	----
18	!!Books by Alastair Campbell:
19	* Fiction:
20	** ''Literature/AllInTheMind'' (2008)
21	** ''{{Literature/Maya}}'' (2010)
22	** ''[[Literature/MyNameIs My Name Is...]]'' (2013)
23
24	* Non-Fiction:
25	** ''The Blair Years'' (2008)
26	** ''Diaries Volume One: Prelude to Power 1994–1997'' (2010)
27	** ''Diaries Volume Two: Power and the People 1997–1999'' (2011)
28	** ''Diaries Volume Three: Power and Responsibility 1999–2001'' (2012)
29	** ''The Happy Depressive: In Pursuit of Personal and Political Happiness'' (2012)
30
31	!!Alastair Campbell's fiction provides examples of:
32	* TheAlcoholic: Ralph Hall MP in ''All In The Mind''; Hannah in ''My Name Is...''
33	* AllFirstPersonNarratorsWriteLikeNovelists
34	* BreakTheCutie: Hannah; Maya
35	* DysfunctionJunction:
36	** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''All In The Mind'', since it's about a psychiatrist and his patients.
37	** StalkerWithACrush, TheIngenue, DomesticAbuse, PrivateDetective and TheSvengali collide in ''Maya'', with inevitably calamitous results.
38	** More downplayed in ''My Name Is...'' Everyone has their own problems, but Hanna's the really messed up one.
39	* GreyAndGrayMorality
40	* PurpleProse: The sex scene in ''Maya'' is particularly infamous and was even [[http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/nov/28/alastair-campbell-maya-bad-sex nominated for an award.]]
41	-->"I thought the walls were going to fall down as we stroked and screamed our way through hours of pleasure to the union for which my whole life had been a preparation..."
42	* SelfInsertFic
43	** All the mentally ill characters (read: all the characters) in ''All In The Mind,'' to some extent.
44	** Steve, the narrator of ''Maya'', is an open self-insert on some levels. (See [[YMMV/{{Maya}} No Celebrities Were Harmed]] for ''other'' levels.)
45	** Young alcoholic Hannah in ''My Name Is...''
46	* StrawmanNewsMedia: Especially prominent in, but not exclusive to ''Maya''.
47
48	----
49	!!Depictions of Alastair Campbell in fiction:
50	* On topical sketch show ''Bremner, Bird and Fortune'', Campbell was portrayed by Andrew Dunn (whom he described at the time as a 'fat bastard'). Recurring sketches showed him interacting with (read 'bullying') Bremner's weak and hesitant Blair.
51	* In 2005, Campbell was played by Jonathan Cake in the Channel 4 television film ''The Government Inspector'', a dramatisation of the David Kelly case.
52	* In 2006 he was depicted by Mark Bazeley in the critically acclaimed ''Film/TheQueen'', about the death of Princess Diana and how royals/politicians dealt with the fallout.
53	* 2007 saw the premiere of ''TONY! The Blair Musical'', a comedy musical about Tony Blair's career. Campbell - portrayed, as is so often the case, as an amoral bastard - has a few numbers. His departure is depicted as the moment things start to fall apart for Tony.
54	* ... Aaand he appears in ''another'' 2007 musical on the same subject, imaginatively called ''Tony Blair - The Musical''.
55	* Mark Bazeley also played Campbell in the 2010 follow-up to ''Film/TheQueen'': ''The Special Relationship,'' about Tony Blair's relationship with US President UsefulNotes/BillClinton.
56	* In 2011, ''The Hunt For Tony Blair'' - a one-off episode of ''Series/TheComicStripPresents'', depicting Blair as a fugitive in a FilmNoir parody - featured Harry Enfield as Campbell.
57	* Also in 2011, [[Creator/TheBBC BBC Radio 4]] broadcast four short monologues, each from the perspective of a different real-life Downing Street cat, called ''Radio/PoliticalAnimals''. Campbell is an antagonist in the second episode, ''Humphrey''.
58	* Not a straight depiction, but it's widely agreed that Campbell was a key inspiration behind foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker on ''Series/TheThickOfIt''. Campbell himself claimed to enjoy the series, although he was an outspoken critic of TheMovie version ''Film/InTheLoop''.

Context Creator / AlastairCampbell