Fleeting glimpse of the dairies

Excerpts from The Blair Years, Campbell's recently published personal and detailed story of working for nine years as one of Tony Blair's closest advisers:

Joining Blair's staff
1994 Tuesday August 9

Cherie called to say they were on their way [to the Campbell's rented holiday house in the south of France]. Tony felt it was important that we thrashed it all out and tried to reach a decision... They were travelling with a few battered old cases and a black bin liner into which Cherie had thrown the last minute stuff including some old carrots.

Friday August 12

As part of the Blair's chaotic travel plans, we had to set off at 4 am so that I could get them to Marseille railway station... Just before the doors closed ... I said that I would do it [join Blair's staff]. He said I was right to feel nervous, but together we would change the face of British politics for a generation, and change the world while we were at it. At which point, right in the middle of this momentous statement, the door shut automatically, angrily, forcing our dear leader to jump back.

In opposition
1995 Tuesday September 5

Dublin. Extraordinary start to the day. My bedroom and Mo's [Mo Mowlam, Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary] were joined by a bathroom so I knocked on the door before going in. 'Come in' she shouted cheerily. I pushed on the door and there she was in all her glory, lying in the bath with nothing on but a big plastic hat on.... She seemed totally unbothered about my seeing her naked... .

Blair elected PM
May 1997

Diana's death
1997 Saturday August 30

I go to bed and around two I was paged 'Car crash in Paris. Dodi killed. Di hurt'. ... TB was really shocked. He said she was in a coma and the chances were she would die. I don't think I'd ever heard him like this. He was full of pauses, then gabbling a little, but equally clear about what we had to do... An hour later she died.

TB was genuinely shocked. It was also going to be a test for him... We agreed to do nothing till he went to church in Trimdon in the morning. Anything before that would look tacky.

Just after seven TB called again. He had been working on the words for his doorstep at the church and he was going over some of the lines he'd drafted. We agreed that it was fine to be emotional, and to call her the People's Princess... He kept saying "I can't really believe that this has happened. People will be in a real state of shock. There will be grief that you do not get for anyone else."

I went down for breakfast and seeing it on TV made it harder to take in. I was tired and felt really emotional now, and drained, and started crying.

TB came on the TV as he and the family arrived at church. It was a powerful piece of communication. The People's Princess was easily the strongest line and the people in the studio really felt he had caught he mood.

US-UK strikes on Iraq - before 9/11
2001 Friday February 16

Later the balloon went up over US-UK attacks on Iraq outside the no-fly zone. None of us in Number 10, including TB and John Sawyers, had known the exact time it was going to happen.

Saturday February 17

We did our best at explaining it, saying it had gone down the chain-of-command and there was no need for a TB-George Bush call on it. But it was seat of the pants stuff and clearly someone inside the Ministry of Defence had f***** up.

Gordon Brown - and clash of dress sense
2002 Thursday April 4

TB had an hour with GB on the budget .... GB was wearing a dark suit, a white shirt, a red tie, shoes that weren't cleaned properly and socks that fell down round in ankles. TB was wearing Nicole Farhi shoes, ludicrous looking lilac-coloured pyjama-style trousers and a blue smock. After GB left, I said TB looked like Austen Powers.

Carole Caplin
2002 Saturday December 7

The Mail came in with its questions. ... then the News of the World with various groups of questions: first the claim and Cherie definitely know about Foster's past, so her statement on that was false; second that Carole tried to do a deal on clothes [for Cherie to wear at functions] as we had always suspected; and third the wacky stuff about them having mudbaths and showers together.

Sunday December 8

TB called and said ... we had to tough it out. I said to him the real problem is ..."You are married to a woman who is determined to protect and keep a woman who is in love with a conman". "You are linked to a conman and everyday its like that it hits your authority more, both with the rest of the government and with the public." TB said : "She is not a bad person and I'm not going to dump on people just because the press tell me to."... I said that if this goes on much longer that I'm off, out of here, goodbye.

Invasion of Iraq - after 9/11
2003 Thursday March 20

After going to bed late last night, then another row with Fiona [wife] over my leaving [the job with Blair] and her demanding a departure date NOW, I was woken at 3 am by Godric. Did I know that action had begun? The media calls started . It turned out that the US had some late sudden intelligence on Saddam's whereabouts and took the decision to go straight away.

Leaving
2003 Friday August 2003

[After the announcement of leaving the job] the most important thing was to get things at home on a better keel, rest and then take stock. As I left, TB had said "You realise that I will phone you every day, don't you". I said "Yes, and I hope you realise that sometimes I won't be there"..

- Alastair Campbell's book, The Blair Years, is published by Hutchinson, is available in UAE bookshops for Dh 119.

Campbell to visit Dubai
Alastair Campbell will be appearing in Dubai at IIR's PR Congress 2007, between Sunday October 28 to Thursday November 1 at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The event will start with 'A Day With Alastair Campbell' on October 28, followed by the main PR congress on October 29 - 30, and then two days of workshops between October 31 and November 1.