The Blair Years
Encyclopedia
The Blair Years is a book by Alastair Campbell
, featuring extracts from his diaries detailing the period during which he worked for Tony Blair
. Published by Random House
, the book was released on 9 July 2007, only two weeks after Blair stood down as Prime Minister. As the first published major insider diary of the Blair era, many of the revelations in the book were reported on by major news organisations, including:
BBC
2 produced a three-part series entitled "The Alastair Campbell Diaries" based on the book.
Paperback published August 2008, ISBN 0099514753
The Blair Years was the winner of the Channel 4
award for Political Book of the Year in 2008.
Alastair Campbell
Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, having first started working for Blair in 1994...
, featuring extracts from his diaries detailing the period during which he worked for Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. Published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, the book was released on 9 July 2007, only two weeks after Blair stood down as Prime Minister. As the first published major insider diary of the Blair era, many of the revelations in the book were reported on by major news organisations, including:
- Blair had considered resigning as early as June 2002.
- During the build-up to the Commons vote on the Iraq War, civil servants had been making contingency plans for an interim government led by Deputy Prime MinisterDeputy Prime MinisterA deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
John PrescottJohn PrescottJohn Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
had Blair lost the vote.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6282106.stm
BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
2 produced a three-part series entitled "The Alastair Campbell Diaries" based on the book.
Paperback published August 2008, ISBN 0099514753
The Blair Years was the winner of the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
award for Political Book of the Year in 2008.