Life and times

The former Labour spin doctor on being expelled, his love of Burnley FC, and a devoted dog

Former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell

I GOT PLENTY of support from the New Labour side of the tracks after my expulsion from the party, but also far more than I expected from the Corbynite left. ‘Dear Jeremy,’ began one of many emails to the Dear Leader, into which I was copied. ‘Like you, I despised Alastair Campbell over his role in the Iraq War, but…’

The ‘but’ in party member Des Mclernon’s email was that he too had voted elsewhere, in protest at what he called Corbyn’s ‘pathetic, muddled’ strategy on Brexit. Then, in a neat switch of the ‘many not the few’ slogan, which I later borrowed in interviews, he concluded, ‘So Jeremy, as you unfortunately chose to listen to a small, unelected FEW (Seumas Milne, Len Mccluskey, Andrew Murray) rather than the MANY (members and voters), come on now and: #EXPELMETOO!!!’

I have no idea if Des, or any of the dozens of others who sent me letters, received the same impersonal expulsion email as mine. If so, they’d know the party no longer goes big on the personal touch.

‘Kind regards,

From the Legal and Governance Unit.’ It was, in so many ways, a very strange email, a very strange day. HOURS AFTER BEING EXPELLED, I had to head to Asia for a conference, and on my travels met a number of politicians, all united in disbelief at what was happening to UK politics, and their view of Brexit as the greatest selfinflicted wound by any country in modern times. A minister about to go into election planning is already using Britain to exemplify why his country’s voters should give his party a big majority to deliver stable government. ‘Look how quickly a country can become a basket case if you get the politics wrong.’ A Malaysian minister told me the UK was projecting itself as ‘a First World failed state’. To think our parliament and politics used to be the envy of the world.

GGOOB. It is one of my life rules. Get good out of bad. Bad: last year, my daughter Grace called me when I was hosting an LBC radio phone-in on the question ‘Can a man be a feminist?’ and told the world she had never seen me cook or wash up, and that I called women ‘birds’. Good: from that emerged the idea of Grace and I doing a podcast together, taking my passion – football – and hers – feminism – and talking to interesting people about both, and lots more.

Grace is not a football fan, but among her favourite guests has been former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher. ‘What would life be without football?’ Carragher asked, as passionate about the game today as when he played. I know what he means. As anyone who saw my BBC documentary on depression will know, watching Burnley win gives me unadulterated joy I can share with others. ‘Nothing else can do that,’ says Carragher. Grace looked at us like we were saddos. It is her loss, and that of every non-fan, that they do not understand.

IS IT POSSIBLE to be jealous of a dog? Certainly, there were times when I suspected my partner Fiona was fonder of Molly, our first Cavalier King Charles, than of me. There were times when I couldn’t really blame her, either.

Molly, sadly, is now resting in peace, and we have a replacement, Skye. As with Molly, Fiona is Skye’s main walker and feeder. And yet it is her turn to be jealous, of a morning ritual in which Skye wakes me up by sitting on my chest until my eyes open, then rubbing noses. This is love of a very special kind, and so much nicer than an alarm clock.

Football, Feminism & Everything in Bet ween is available on itunes, Spotify and Acast

My daughter told the world she had never seen me cook or wash up, and that I called women ‘birds’