History Creator / AlastairCampbell

* CoitusEnsues

* 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''.

Best known to some as the inspiration for [[Series/TheThickOfIt Malcolm Tucker]], but to everyone else as UsefulNotes/TonyBlair's official spin doctor, Alastair Campbell 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.)

Best known to some as the inspiration for [[Series/TheThickOfIt Malcolm Tucker]], but to everyone else as TonyBlair's official spin doctor, Alastair Campbell 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.)

** StalkerWithACrush, TheIngenue, DomesticAbuser, PrivateDetective and TheSvengali collide in ''Maya'', with inevitably calamitous results.

* 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''.

He's also a [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootballfootball nut,]] alleged Scot, former softporn writer ([[PenName under the pen name]] '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.

* DysfunctionJunction

* 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 [[JustForFun/SyndicateQuestersUnitedAgainstDeviousness for]] Tony.

* 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.

He's also a [[TheBeautifulGame football nut,]] alleged Scot, former softporn writer ([[PenName under the pen name]] '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.

* Mark Bazeley also played Campbell in the 2010 follow-up to ''TheQueen'': ''The Special Relationship,'' about Tony Blair's relationship with US President UsefulNotes/BillClinton.

* Not a straight depiction, but it's widely agreed that Campbell was a key inspiration behind foul-mouthed MagnificentBastard 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''.

->''[[ClusterFBomb "Fuck off and cover something important you twats!"]]''

->''"Final sentence of earlier email probably [[{{Understatement}} 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]."''

[[HiddenDepths He's also a]] [[TheBeautifulGame football nut,]] [[ManInAKilt alleged Scot,]] [[PornWithPlot former softporn writer]] [[PenName (under the pen name]] [[EmbarrassingNickname 'The Riviera Gigolo'),]] [[UrbanLegendLoveLife suspected former]] [[UnproblematicProstitution sex worker,]] [[GratuitousFrench Francophone,]] [[GratuitousGerman Germanophone,]] [[AthleticArenaLevel triathlete,]] [[EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes and bagpipe player.]] He's shared a pitch with Diego Maradona. [[RunningGag But he never talks about it.]]

* 2007 saw the premiere of ''TONY! The Blair Musical'', a comedy [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 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.

!!Tropes applied to Alastair Campbell:
* TheAlcoholic: Like the rest of Fleet Street, he drank heavily in the late 1970s--mid 1980s, culminating in a breakdown in 1986. In recovery he became TheTeetotaler ([[OffTheWagon for a while]]).
* ArchEnemy: In 2003 it was Creator/TheBBC, and his grudge has remained famous, but RealityIsUnrealistic - like most Brits, he's a fan of the Beeb in general, and his ''real'' nemesis is the ''Daily Mail''. (See the Quotes page for a glimpse at just how strongly his loathing is reciprocated.) If offered a copy of the ''Mail'' on an aeroplane, he will reportedly take it, rip it in half, and hand it back.
* BerserkButton: ThatLiarLies. Unfortunate, given his reputation (deserved or not) as a liar.
* TheBully
* CaptainSmoothAndSergeantRough: With Blair.
* ClusterFBomb: Always. Along with an [[RealityIsUnrealistic entirely fabricated]] [[OopNorth Yorkshire accent,]] it's the easiest way to make him recognisable to an audience.
* DeadpanSnarker: Along with {{Filth}}, this defines Mark Bazeley's depiction in ''Film/TheQueen'' and ''The Special Relationship''.
-->'''Alastair:''' Eatin' ain't cheatin'!\\
'''Cherie:''' ''(DisapprovingLook)''
* {{Determinator}}: Once he's set his mind to a challenge - political, athletic, creative - he's damn hard to stop.
* DreadfulMusician: In reality he's not that bad, but anyone who dares to play the bagpipes will have this trope applied to them regardless.
* EmotionalBruiser: Very open about his depression. Very open about his [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry other emotions.]]
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Especially Paul Dacre, Peter Oborne and and Simon Walters. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sf9lpIP4pU Allegedly.]]
* FalseFriend: Sometimes, to UsefulNotes/PeterMandelson. After all, [[HeterosexualLifePartners they go way, way back,]] and it didn't stop Alastair giving Peter the shove in 1998... [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder or 2001...]]
* GodwinsLaw: Comparisons to Goebbels.
* GrumpyOldMan: Alastair himself is more likely than anyone else to invoke this.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: With his petite journalist partner, [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/with_fiona_4547.jpg Fiona Millar.]]
* ImplausibleDeniability: Over the 'dodgy dossier', according to some BritishNewspapers and their readers.
* LighterAndSofter: Since leaving Downing Street and becoming a novelist, according to some reports. Others say he was [[HeroWithBadPublicity always like that.]] Others, meanwhile, say he [[VillainWithGoodPublicity hasn't changed a bit.]]
* ManInAKilt: Normally in conjunction with EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes. Definite TruthInTelevision; you won't see him at a formal ceremony without full kilt gear.
* ManipulativeBastard: Very often applied in fictional (and not-so-fictional) portrayals. Ramped UpToEleven in comedy.
* MenCantKeepHouse: According to Fiona.
* NoIndoorVoice: Stands out especially in ''The Hunt For Tony Blair''.
* OffTheWagon: Has admitted to drinking occasionally, even though he knows it's dangerous for a recovering alcoholic to do so.
* OopNorth: Despite being born and raised in Yorkshire to Scottish parents, he sounds like a Londoner. [[RealityIsUnrealistic Don't expect actors to reflect this accurately.]] It's something to do with Northerners being tough and louche.
* PsychoSidekick: To Blair.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Swears less, and [[IAmVeryBritish sounds much less Northern,]] than TV and film portrayals would have you believe.
* SanitySlippage: For months, or even years, leading up to his resignation in 2003. Manifested as spiralling depression and IrrationalHatred of, among others, Creator/TheBBC.
* TheSvengali: Sometimes portrayed as this to a naive Blair, as in ''Bremner, Bird And Fortune''.
* SweetTooth: Proudly failing to notice that RealMenHateSugar. Apparently he has a particular fondness for Toblerones. The most prominent use of this is in Jeremy Vine's 2012 memoir ''It's All News To Me'', which describes Alastair calmly eating a forkful of Vine's chocolate cake before walking off without saying a word.
* TestosteronePoisoning
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Jonathan Powell in ''Film/TheQueen'' and ''The Special Relationship''.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Burnley FC, to his family, to the Labour Party, and above all to [[MeanBoss Tony Blair.]] He also once lamped a man for making a TooSoon joke about the drowning of his ''previous'' MeanBoss, Robert Maxwell.[[note]][[AffectionateNickname Captain Bob...]] Bob... [[{{Pun}} Bobbing...]][[/note]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: With UsefulNotes/PeterMandelson and/or UsefulNotes/TonyBlair.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: The whole New Labour inner circle. If Andrew Rawnsley is to be believed, rarely has a country been run by a more dysfunctional bunch of backstabbers and narcissists.
* {{Workaholic}}: During the Blair Years he basically didn't do ''anything'' except the job. Yes, he hated it, but he lived for it nonetheless.

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 Creator/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.

* FalseFriend: Sometimes, to Creator/PeterMandelson. After all, [[HeterosexualLifePartners they go way, way back,]] and it didn't stop Alastair giving Peter the shove in 1998... [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder or 2001...]]

* VitriolicBestBuds: With Creator/PeterMandelson and/or UsefulNotes/TonyBlair.

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 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.

* FalseFriend: Sometimes, to PeterMandelson. After all, [[HeterosexualLifePartners they go way, way back,]] and it didn't stop Alastair giving Peter the shove in 1998... [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder or 2001...]]

* VitriolicBestBuds: With PeterMandelson and/or TonyBlair.

* Mark Bazeley also played Campbell in the 2010 follow-up to ''TheQueen'': ''The Special Relationship,'' about Tony Blair's relationship with US President BillClinton.

* HotDad: A surprising (or perhaps not so surprising) number of people have admitted to holding this opinion. One of the main tropes applied on [[http://www.lordbothwell.co.uk/campbellindex.html this fansite.]]
-->"He was the subject of far more lobby journalist crushes — of both sexes — than Tony Blair, his appeal being that, in any circumstance, he looks like a man who’d know exactly what to do." [[http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/davidhughes/100023597/alastair-campbells-entertaining-tales-are-not-quite-what-they-seem/]]

* TheAlcoholic: Ralph Hall MP in ''All In The Mind;'' Hannah in ''My Name Is...''

** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''All In The Mind,'' since it's about a psychiatrist and his patients.
** StalkerWithACrush, TheIngenue, DomesticAbuser, PrivateDetective and TheSvengali collide in ''Maya,'' with inevitably calamitous results.

-->''"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...''"

** Steve, the narrator of ''Maya,'' is an open self-insert on some levels. (See [[YMMV/{{Maya}} No Celebrities Were Harmed]] for ''other'' levels.)

* StrawmanNewsMedia: Especially prominent in, but not exclusive to ''Maya.''

* 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.
* In 2005, Campbell was played by Jonathan Cake in the Channel 4 television film ''The Government Inspector,'' a dramatisation of the David Kelly case.
* 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.
* 2007 saw the premiere of ''TONY! The Blair Musical,'' a comedy [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 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.
* ... Aaand he appears in ''another'' 2007 musical on the same subject, imaginatively called ''Tony Blair - The Musical.''
* Mark Bazeley also played Campbell in the 2010 follow-up to ''TheQueen:'' ''The Special Relationship,'' about Tony Blair's relationship with US President BillClinton.
* 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.
* Also in 2011, [[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.''

* ArchEnemy: In 2003 it was TheBBC, and his grudge has remained famous, but RealityIsUnrealistic - like most Brits, he's a fan of the Beeb in general, and his ''real'' nemesis is ''The Daily Mail.'' (See the Quotes page for a glimpse at just how strongly his loathing is reciprocated.)
** If offered a copy of the ''Mail'' on an aeroplane, he will reportedly take it, rip it in half, and hand it back.

* DeadpanSnarker: Along with {{Filth}}, this defines Mark Bazeley's depiction in ''Film/TheQueen'' and ''The Special Relationship.''

'''Cherie:''' (DisapprovingLook)

* ImplausibleDeniability: Over the 'dodgy dossier,' according to some BritishNewspapers and their readers.

* NoIndoorVoice: Stands out especially in ''The Hunt For Tony Blair.''

* OopNorth: Despite being born in Scotland and raised in Yorkshire, he sounds like a Londoner. [[RealityIsUnrealistic Don't expect actors to reflect this accurately.]] It's something to do with Northerners being tough and louche.

* SanitySlippage: For months, or even years, leading up to his resignation in 2003. Manifested as spiralling depression and IrrationalHatred of, among others, TheBBC.
* TheSvengali: Sometimes portrayed as this to a naive Blair, as in ''Bremner, Bird And Fortune.''
* SweetTooth: Proudly failing to notice that RealMenHateSugar. Apparently he has a particular fondness for Toblerones.
** The most prominent use of this is in Jeremy Vine's 2012 memoir ''It's All News To Me,'' which describes Alastair calmly eating a forkful of Vine's chocolate cake before walking off without saying a word.

* ThoseTwoGuys: With Jonathan Powell in ''Film/TheQueen'' and ''The Special Relationship.''
* UndyingLoyalty: To Burnley FC, to his family, to the Labour Party, and above all to [[MeanBoss Tony Blair.]]
** He once lamped a man for making a TooSoon joke about the drowning of his ''previous'' MeanBoss, Robert Maxwell.[[note]][[AffectionateNickname Captain Bob...]] Bob... [[{{Pun}} Bobbing...]][[/note]]