Alistair Campbell To Quit

[Guest LB]

Downing Street media chief Alastair Campbell is to step down, it has been announced.

Tony Blair's director of communications and strategy said his family had paid a heavy price for the "real and intense" pressures of his job and it was "time to move on and do other things".

No successor has been announced, and a date for Mr Campbell's departure has not been set, though he said he would leave Downing Street - along with partner Fiona Millar, who works for Cherie Blair - in "a few weeks".

He said it had been "an enormous privilege to work so closely in opposition and in government for someone I believe history will judge as a great transforming prime minister".

The Alastair Campbell I know is an immensely able, fearless, loyal servant of the cause he believes in, who was dedicated not only to that cause but to his country

Mr Blair said Mr Campbell had been "an immensely able, fearless, loyal servant of the cause he believes in".

He added: "He was, is, and will remain a good friend."

Mr Campbell, a father-of-three, returned the sentiment, saying he had a friendship with Mr Blair which would endure "despite the pressures and the strains".

And he said that despite "the crises, the dramas, the things that went wrong as well as the things that went right, he gave me a big job, a big challenge.

"And I strove at all times to do it to the best of my ability, and hopefully made a difference for the better."

He said he planned to write, broadcast and make speeches, but did not want to take on "another big job".

The dramatic announcement comes amid the Hutton inquiry into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

Mr Campbell, a former newspaper journalist, gave evidence to the inquiry last week over the BBC report that Downing Street had "sexed up" the Iraq arms dossier.

It is time to move on and do other things, and let others support the prime minister in the next phase of the government's programme of change

He said he had planned to leave his job last summer but stayed on after being asked by the prime minister to oversee government communications on Iraq.

He said he and Mr Blair had agreed on 7 April that he would step down from his role this year.

Mr Campbell said the decision was announced on Friday because he felt it would be wrong to do so while the Hutton inquiry was sitting.

Mr Campbell said he would continue to assist the inquiry if required, and would also help hand over his post to his successor.

I will always be grateful for the opportunities I have had since the prime minister asked me to work for him

In a statement, Mr Blair said: "The picture of Alastair Campbell painted by parts of the media has always been a caricature.

"The Alastair Campbell I know is an immensely able, fearless, loyal servant of the cause he believes in, who was dedicated not only to that cause but to his country.

"He is a strong character who can make enemies but those who know him best, like him best."

Mr Campbell said there was "no better job than the one I have been doing".

He went on: "I will always be grateful for the opportunities I have had since the prime minister asked me to work for him."

Historic

He said he looked back "with pride and satisfaction" at the role he said he had played in modernising Labour and helping to win two general elections.

More important than that was, he said, his role in helping the prime minister and other ministers "in making the historic changes the government has made to our economy, our society and Britain's role in the world".

He went on: "It is time to move on and do other things, and let others support the prime minister in the next phase of the government's programme of change."

Mr Campbell started working with Mr Blair after he became Labour leader in 1994 and became the prime minister's official spokesman after Labour's election victory in 1997.

He moved to his role as communications director in 2001.

He said there were "huge upsides" to his job, including "the knowledge that you are witnessing history in the making".

But he added: "There are downsides too and these are mostly borne by your family.

"The reality is that in some jobs, and this is one of them, there is no such thing as a day off, or a night off, or a holiday without interruption.

"The pressures are real and intense, but in doing the job you learn to live with them. It is your family that pays a price."

He said Ms Millar plans to return to freelance journalism.

Sport

"We have three wonderful children and we look forward to spending a lot more time with them," he added.

The Burnley football fan said he planned to write not only about politics, but also about sport, and get involved in grassroots sports development.

He said he also plans to devote more time and effort to the Leukaemia Research Fund, for which he ran the London Marathon earlier this year.

But he said politics was "a passion of my life" and would remain a close interest, saying: "I will continue to help the political causes I believe in in any way I can."

He thanked his staff at Downing Street, saying they had been an "enormous source of strength and support through the good times and the bad".

[Sir T Fireball]

oi Moon! you want a job?

:D ;)

[andsome]

GOOD RIDDANCE (Damo, that's a TWO word answer)

[Tankus]

Why is this news ...he said he was going anyway at the end of sept........

Book deals ahoy...me mates.....get it in print before B'liar jumps ship for the more lucrative speeches tour ....The diaries will make far more money if the bullshitter in chief still sits in number 11