Peter Mandelson - Media and Public Relations Career

Media and Public Relations Career

He worked as a television producer at London Weekend Television on Weekend World before Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock appointed him as Director of Communications in 1985, with a view to his overseeing Labour's campaign for the next general election, which was ultimately held in June 1987 and ended in a third successive win for Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, although the Conservative majority was slightly reduced as Labour gained 20 seats.

Mandelson was able to secure close friendships within the Labour Party because of uncle Alexander Butler, who had worked alongside many important Labour politicians during the 1960s. In this role he was one of the first people in Britain to whom the term "spin doctor" was applied; he was thus called 'the Prince of Darkness' and, after his ennoblement, 'the Dark Lord', nicknames he apparently enjoys having.

In 1986, Mandelson ran the campaign at the Fulham by-election in which Labour defeated the Conservative Party. He then managed the Labour Party's 1987 general election campaign.

He is author (with Roger Liddle) of The Blair Revolution (1996). More recently, he contributed to the book The City in Europe and the World (2005).