Alastair Campbell

You can either tax...

So the big advantage I had was it all moved so quickly.

I was never really asked to do that.

So day three in my job as foreign secretary, Her Late Majesty the Queen died and we went straight into Operation London Bridge.

We went straight from Operation London Bridge into the UN General Assembly, went straight from the UN General Assembly to Abe Shinzo's funeral.

And I was flying back from the Far East

as the wheels were falling off the British economy.

So literally, I was like, wow.

So how did it feel?

It felt... I mean, I was stepping into one of the biggest jobs in British politics, and it was like...

It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before.

All the certainties, all the handrails, all the foundation stones that I thought were solid were wobbling.

And it became clear by the time I got back and for the first time, just going into party conference, it was really the first time I caught my breath.

So that beginning part of October, going into Conservative Party Conference, been Foreign Secretary for a month.

That whole month had just been turbulence.

Total, absolute, head-spinning turbulence.

And then we're at party conference.

And luckily, I was able to stand up and just give a speech on foreign affairs because I was foreign secretary.

And like, shit, keep my head below the parapet on that.

But just, it was impossible to understand what was going on.