Blair's Barnum

PHOTOGRAPH FOR TIME BY TOM STODDART / GETTY IMAGES

P.T. Barnum could sell tickets to see this, one of the biggest, fiercest beasts ever to roam Britain's political jungle, up close and unconfined in a north London garden. As Tony Blair's director of communications and strategy, and for years his most trusted adviser, Alastair Campbell stalked the corridors of Westminster, commanding fear and demanding respect. His influence was immense, shaping Blair's political project to reform the Labour Party and ensuring its success. He was eyewitness to crucial decisions in foreign policy and a catalyst in others, treating world leaders with the bruising directness he meted out to his own colleagues....

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