Alastair Campbell, the controversial political aide who propelled Tony Blair to electoral success, will be the main guest in Tuesday’s edition of Times Talk.
The man widely believed to be one of the brains behind Mr Blair’s major electoral victories in the UK, is expected in Malta to address EY’s Malta Attractiveness Survey 2014 on Wednesday.
A journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, Mr Campbell is best known for his work as Mr Blair’s Director of Communications and Strategy.
It was often said that Mr Campbell was the one man Mr Blair could not do without, especially because of the way he worked out the media, earning the title of Britain’s finest spin doctor.
But Mr Campbell was also one of the most controversial figures in the UK. He was involved in the preparation and release of two dossiers in connection with the war against Saddam Hussein, as the US and Britain tried to justify the military reaction to the September 11 attacks.
Both dossiers have been criticised as overstating or distorting the actual intelligence findings.
Mr Campbell resigned in August 2003 during the Hutton Inquiry into the suicide of scientist David Kelly, who had said the government exaggerated the Iraqi threat in the dossier.
Still active in politics in Britain and overseas, Mr Campbell now splits his time between writing, speaking, charitable fundraising, and campaigning. He has written 10 books in the past seven years.
Like many in the media business, Mr Campbell had developed a drink problem and openly talks about his “breakdown” which led him to give up the booze.
During the TV news analysis programme on Tuesday, Mr Campbell is expected to talk about his role in issues like the Iraq war, the ISIS threat, migration, as well as his own personal battle with depression. He will be joined by political analyst Godfrey Grima.
Presented by Times of Malta’s head of media Herman Grech and chief reporter Mark Micallef, Times Talk is aired live on TVM on Tuesday at 6.45pm. The programme will be available on demand on timesofmalta.com from Wednesday.