Alastair Campbell press secretary. Having recovered and become teetotal, he told Blair about his alcoholism, which Blair did not see as a problem. In his autobiography, Tony Blair would later reveal that Campbell had coined the name "New Labour" and described Campbell as a "genius". Campbell wrote the speech that led to the party's review of Clause Four and the birth of "New Labour". In addition to being press spokesman, Campbell was Blair's speech writer and chief strategist. He oversaw new co-ordination and rebuttal systems which gave birth to a communications machine which became both feared and respected, and the model for
BBC controversies television programme "Blue Peter", Richard Bacon, was in the headlines when it emerged he had taken cocaine. He was released from his BBC contract immediately. In May 2003, the defence correspondent of the BBC Radio 4 "Today" programme, Andrew Gilligan, quoted a government official who stated that the British government had "sexed up" a dossier concerning weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, against the wishes of the intelligence services. A newspaper report claimed that Alastair Campbell (the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy), was responsible. The government strongly denied the claims and this prompted an investigation by parliament. A