果冻影院

This interview appears in听the latest edition of the听果冻影院 Policy Lab magazine.听

There is an indisputable star quality to Alastair Campbell. After a extraordinarily high profile - and controversial - career at the very top of politics, the former Labour spin doctor is now one of the most celebrated political podcasters in the world. And someone who can sell out the Albert Hall in a matter of hours with people who want to listen to him talk about politics.

As such, it was a surprise, as I settle down in his living room to chat, to hear that Campbell now argues that something more than an election campaign is required to change the world for good. For all his vociferous partisanship, which remains undimmed by the years, he insists that the country cannot be turned around with an election win by itself.

鈥淚 hope Labour win the next election; you won鈥檛 be surprised to hear me say that. But politics needs more than just a change of government. Politics is stuck, and people are angry. It needs to open up and improve how we hold leaders Accountable.鈥�

Our conversation takes place just days before a critical party conference season for Rishi Sunak and Keir Stammer. Both will be looking to rally their troops and set out their political visions ahead of the next election. Campbell has been there in the cockpit 鈥� working with Tony Blair to return Labour to Power after 18 years in opposition.

What advice would Campbell give to those following the election campaign today? In his new book But what can I do: why politics has gone so wrong and how you can change it, Campbell attempts to set out the recipe for success. Written as a guide for a new generation of leaders and campaigners, who he thinks could help turn politics around, it鈥檚 part campaign tool, part inspirational guide and part support manual. After all, Campbell knows all too well how bruising politics can be.

鈥淚t started out as a letter to the next generation. But it turned into something very different. Speaking to young people, I soon realised it could be a guide based on what I鈥檝e learnt and what they can do.鈥�

Its three-part structure is a formula for successful campaigning. His audience? Well, the book tour has felt as much like a campaign as a sales drive. Campbell is in a fight to prove that, for all its faults, politics can make a difference in an age of apathy and anger.

鈥淚t probably is a bit of a campaign鈥� he says, reflecting on the many conversations he鈥檚 had with young people up and down the country. The conversation will continue when Campbell comes to speak at 果冻影院 in the first event in this years Department of Political Science,听Policy in Practice series.

And what about the country鈥檚 issues and challenges in overcoming them? Here again, Campbell emphasises that there is more to change than we might expect.

鈥淛ust the other day, I was doing a debate with Gary Neville for Debate Mate鈥� the charity that听pairs working class young people with adults to help them gain confidence in debating. 鈥淚 was听arguing that politics was the best route to changing the world.鈥�

It was Neville鈥檚 job to argue the opposite. And Campbell was taken by what the former Manchester United star said.

鈥淕ary鈥檚 argument was fascinating. He argued that much of the change and improvements in Manchester have been made despite politics and not because of it鈥�. Neville stressed that this wasn鈥檛 a criticism of the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham. His powers remain limited, and much of this work predates the creation of the mayoralty but has more to do with the passion and brilliance of local campaigners, businesses, and communities.

This new approach of embracing different experiences and expertise from outside politics and Whitehall feels a long way from top-down targets.

鈥淚 do think to a certain extent the model where you stand up and say 鈥榲ote for me, and I鈥檒l give you the perfect job, the perfect life, the perfect school and the perfect hospital鈥� won鈥檛 work today鈥�.

Campbell makes clear in speaking to me now that this isn鈥檛 1997, and politicians should avoid grand visions. And perhaps instead, a politics that levels with people is needed.

鈥淚 think, a politics that recognises that the country is in a real mess. And that is honest that we won鈥檛 be able to fix everything all at once. It鈥檚 going to take time and hard work. A politics that says we support what teachers do; we value what nurses do, we know we can鈥檛 get anything done without front-line workers, and we can鈥檛 keep the country safe without the police and military鈥�.

This valuing of those who serve goes beyond the public sector. To those working to bring about change in communities and those outside politics. In the book, Campbell talks about people like Alex Smith, founder of Cares UK.

Inspired by what he saw as a crisis of loneliness across the UK, Alex set up Cares UK to 鈥榟elp people find connection and community in a disconnected age.鈥� Alex sits alongside countless other inspiring examples in the book鈥攕tories of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things.

鈥淲ith any major change, there will always be a political component. But I think it is incredible what change you can bring about if you get involved on the ground鈥�. As we come to the end of our chat. I ask Campbell whether he agrees with his erstwhile Clinton-era counterpart and political strategist, James Carville, that campaigning is a sacred mix of labour and love.

鈥淚 love James, but I just don鈥檛 see it like that鈥�. He says, reflecting on the election victories with Labour.

鈥淚鈥檒l resent, to the day I die, that on those three election wins I didn鈥檛 enjoy them. I was already thinking of the next thing.鈥�

And perhaps that鈥檚 the true lesson of the book for politicians and those wanting to work alongside them. As the great philosopher of politics, Max Weber, once told us: victory is never absolute - our efforts will be added to and supported by many others and they will, in turn, be unpicked by a generation yet to come.

In the end, that鈥檚 what it is all about. As Campbell puts it, 鈥渨e do what we can do鈥� and we hope others do the same.

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• The panel debate, But what can I do now, in conversation with Alistair Campbell, took place at 果冻影院's Bloomsbury Theatre on Thursday 5th October, 2023.听听