What happened during Alastair Campbell's breakdown in Scotland?

At 29, Alastair Campbell had a psychotic episode while covering Neil Kinnock on a trip to Scotland. After weeks of heavy drinking and a row with Fiona, he got stuck driving round a roundabout near Rosyth, abandoned his car, took a cab to Perth and began hearing voices. Police arrested him, and he says admitting he was not okay brought relief. When he went back to the Daily Mirror he told colleagues exactly what had happened, which he calls one of his best decisions.

• Security was tight because it was the day Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated.
• Campbell credits Mirror editor Richard Stott with phoning him and telling him to come back and do his job.

▸In their words

“It feels like anything you look at, you think is speaking to you.” Alastair Campbell · at 25:37 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Rest Is Politics (2026-10-15). Read the whole episode summary →

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