80 Quotes by Alastair Campbell

My aunty says I’m the double of my father. He was a workaholic, which I’ve definitely inherited. And like me, he could be the life and soul of the party, but also quite withdrawn.

One of the more fatuous remarks I’ve heard in recent days is that ‘My Life,’ Clinton’s autobiography, is too long and, at almost 1,000 pages, short it is not. But this man was for eight years the President of the most powerful country on earth.

The bad news for journalists today is that the media, however seriously people who are in the public eye take it, is not taken as seriously as it once was – by the public.

If you look at the other people around at the time – Charles Clarke, Alistair Darling, Jack Straw – they’ve all gone. And they’re not old. What’s happened is that someone who is quite old – Jeremy Corbyn – is now leader. We have to take some responsibility for that.

Some twat with a Trot poster came up to me on the way in and yelled ‘Butcher!’ Traitor!’ at me. I stopped and mustered as much visual contempt as I could, then assured him that if we win the general election then don’t worry, thanks to wankers like him, there will always be another Tory government along afterwards. These people make me vomit.

To me, marriage is partly a religious thing and I’m not religious.

For all its faults, our political process is a good one, and the means by which much meaningful change is made. That is not a very fashionable view to hold, but as someone who has operated at senior levels in journalism and politics, around a decade in each, it is my respect for the media that has shrunk, and my respect for politics that has grown.

By asking the question 'Am I happy?,' and via the answer setting out what I mean by happiness, there is a political route that can be taken, by asking another question - 'Can politics deliver happiness, and should it try?'