Alastair Campbell

The former press secretary to Tony Blair-turned public speaker, charity fundraiser and novelist on his remarkable talent for fiction...

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While Alastair Campbell was no stranger to criticism during his tenure ruling the corridors of power as Tony Blair’s press secretary and official spokesman, since his resignation in 2003 and his subsequent publication of two novels and his own memoir, he has found himself the recipient of an altogether more barbed kind of criticism: the book review...

Born in Yorkshire in 1957, Campbell was one of four children of Donald Campbell, a Scottish vet, and his wife Elizabeth. After an education at the City of Leicester school and having graduated from Cambridge with a 2:1 in modern languages (he has since claimed that he wrote essays based solely on works of literary criticism, often rather than having read the works themselves), he embarked upon a career in journalism. His first published work was Inter-City Ditties, his winning entry to a readers' competition in the pornographic magazine Forum, an achievement which led to a lengthy stint writing pieces for the magazine with such titles as Busking with Bagpipes and The Riviera Gigolo. He worked on both the Plymouth-based Sunday Independent (where he met his partner, Fiona Millar), and The Tavistock Times, before becoming the Political and News editor with the Daily Mirror and Today newspapers. His move to London, his rapid rise in the ranks and the accompanying stress led to a well-documented problem with alcohol abuse and depression. He also became a close advisor to Neil Kinnock, worked closely with Robert Maxwell, and had already formed close links with ‘New’ Labour before Tony Blair became leader; indeed, he is credited with having helped to interview the three candidates for the new Labour Party leader after John Smith’s death in 1994.

However, with Blair’s accession to the leadership, he asked Campbell to be his press secretary. He worked for Blair - first in that capacity, then as his official spokesman – until after the second Labour election victory, when he became Director of Communications and Strategy. He resigned in September 2003, citing his desire to have “more of a life” with his partner Fiona and their children. Since then, he has been engaged mainly in writing, public speaking and working for Leukaemia Research, where he is chairman of fundraising. He has continued to act as an advisor to Mr Blair and the Labour Party, including during the 2005 election campaign. He lives in North London with his partner and three children, and he lists his interests as including running, triathlon, bagpipes and Burnley Football Club.

Maya
Maya Lowe is one of the world's biggest movie stars. Steve Watkins is her life-long friend. Both swear their relationship hasn't changed since they shared a school desk as London teenagers. But can a friendship like theirs really survive a fame as great as Maya's? Can a man like Steve, working away for a Heathrow logistics company, seriously remain part of her life? He certainly thinks so. But amid the twists and turns of Maya's public and private lives, the gulf between what Steve thinks and what is actually true gets ever wider. And in a world where the obsession with celebrity seems to make everyone want to be one, truth is hard to find. Set in modern-day Britain, America and France, Alastair Campbell's second novel is part psychological thriller, part exploration of the psychology of fame. Steve is a brilliantly ambiguous figure, narrating a story full of morally complex characters from the worlds of film, business, TV, journalism and private investigation. Whether through stars with a love-hate relationship with their public; agents milking the culture of celebrity; a media that cannot get enough because the public always want more, Campbell depicts a society feeding vainly on fame, and the dangerous consequences for those caught up in its frenzy.


Read more about Maya, including a free downloadable extract, at Lovereading.co.uk