This event will explore the hopes and concerns of young people from across UCL and London about engaging in politics, and consider how our political system can become more open to their participation. His explanation of polarising populism across different countries (not only Trump and Johnson) is engaging, as is his exposure of the corruption of truth. It's a question regularly posed to Alastair Campbell, not least in reaction to The Rest is Politics, the chart-topping podcast he presents with Rory Stewart. He put Downing Street briefings on record for the first time, and although he was only identified as "The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman", he became one of the most high-profile and written about figures in British politics, earning the epithet "the real deputy Prime Minister".

He is more concerned with generating engagement in politics amongst the disillusioned, and what he attacks is (for the most part) the attitudes, sense of entitlement, downright deceit, tribalism and denigration fo the political sphere seen in recent years. Three days later, Laws resigned his post following revelations about possible irregularities in his expenses claims in The Telegraph the day before. His exploration of leadership is refreshing, as is his urge to authenticity (don't become a banker, work for a charity on a much lower wage .The minister who had been scheduled to appear was the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws, who Campbell produced a picture of during the programme. I also reflected on political figures that have resonated with me based on the biographies I have read, and the traits of those figures. I list in the book many campaigners who have made a real difference and their work should never be underestimated.

Similarly, to read about his loyalty towards and cooperation with Tony Blair is just fascinating and again, working in teams like this must be just incredible.The first 120-ish pages are essentially a rant on what is going wrong with the world - mainly Brexit, populism, BoJo etc. The book opens with an exploration of the current state of the world, highlighting the pressing global issues that demand attention, including climate change, social inequality, political polarization, and more. But though the UK is the country I know best, I try to range far and wide in showing how the trends doing such damage to politics here are having a similar corrosive effect elsewhere. Campbell also acted as an adviser to Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband at the 2010 and the 2015 general elections.

Campbell was a guest presenter of Good Morning Britain from 10 to 12 May 2021, where he presented with Susanna Reid.

The main content of the book is in section 3, and you could do worse than to just go straight there, and hear the answers to the question posed in the title.

Populism, polarisation and post-truth politics,’ largely define modern politics, both in the UK and abroad believes Campbell. In March 2022 he launched a new podcast, The Rest is Politics, discussing politics home and abroad with former Tory cabinet minister Rory Stewart. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel to be alerted when the recording is uploaded, or just check our channel after the 24 May, when the video should have been made available. I found the portrayal of life in and around politics, and how to get into it very instructive, whilst the debunking of myths like ‘all politicians are the same’ and ‘there’s no point voting because my vote won’t change anything’ addressed relatable concerns. In 2018 Campbell became part of the top table team at the People's Vote campaign fighting for a referendum on the Brexit deal.I found the 'Why politics has gone so wrong' part of the book to contain very little in the way of new criticisms of our political landscape. It went to No 1 in the Sunday Times bestseller list in the first week of publication, meaning Campbell had both the most popular podcast, ( The Rest is Politics) and the best selling non-fiction hard back book in the UK at the same time. Whilst it lacks some of the personal cutting edge insight or emotion of his diaries of book on mental health, it makes up for it in some reflective maturity and the elevation of other people’s voices - especially regarding young people. There’s a lot of pontificating about populism which would be interesting, but is ultimately irrelevant.