When we think of artists who can sell out shows faster than the Foo Fighters, a global pop sensation probably comes to mind.
But it is an impressive feat achieved by former Downing Street director of communications and strategy Alastair Campbell, 67, and former cabinet minister Rory Stewart, 51, with their live tour of The Rest is Politics.
The centrist duo traveled to the UK capital this week as part of their UK tour, entertaining hordes of fans with their podcast live show, which attracts a staggering 2.5 million listens each week .
While their tour may not include glitter and friendship bracelets, they do have a tight-knit fan base made up predominantly of women who pack out the venues, some even arriving wearing t-shirts with the duo’s face on them.
It’s evidence of a whirlwind two years for the charismatic couple, who didn’t consider themselves friends before the show, but together have come up with Amazon Music’s podcast of the year with more than 145 million total downloads.
Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart have gained a fan base of predominantly millennial women, including Charli (pictured), thanks to The Rest Is Politics podcast.
Campbell, the son of a Scottish vet, attended the same Leicester comprehensive school as Gary Lineker, the former England footballer and co-founder of Goalhanger, which produces The Rest is Politics.
After reading modern languages at Cambridge, he went on to write pornography for France’s Forum magazine under the pseudonym The Riviera Gigolo.
He then joined The Daily Mirror, where he rose quickly and eventually became political editor. At 29, he had become editor of the new Sunday Today newspaper, but the publication’s launch failed and caused a crisis.
It was then that he relaunched his career in politics, working as an advisor to Tony Blair. He became one of the leading figures behind the New Labor movement, helping to guide Blair to electoral victories.
After the 1997 election success, Campbell served as Blair’s chief press secretary, earning the nickname “the real deputy prime minister”.
After working for Blair, he continued to advise governments and, in 2019, was expelled from the Labor Party after admitting that he had not voted for the party for the first time in his life, disgusted by the party’s stance on Brexit.
Eton and then Oxford University educated Stewart, who previously tutored Prince William and Prince Harry, on the other hand, mounted a colorful Conservative leadership challenge in 2019, making no secret of his views on the Rest and eventually losing to Boris Johnson .
After quitting the Conservatives and resigning as an MP, he launched an independent bid for London mayor, but abandoned plans when Covid hit and the election was delayed.
Rory (pictured left) and Alistair (pictured right) have sold out venues, including the Albert Hall, following the success of their podcast.
The centrist duo have gathered a dedicated fan base, with some purchasing tribute t-shirts featuring their faces (pictured).
They are two professional trajectories that, given their different knowledge and life experiences, would not necessarily coincide.
And they didn’t until one fateful day in 2022, when Campbell met Goalhanger co-founder Tony Pastor at a Westminster Pret.
He remembered Tony’s words in the Guardian: ‘Tony came to see me at Westminster Pret. He said: ”This podcast thing is huge. It’s just two guys talking, but it’s huge. So we should do one called The Rest is Politics, You and a Conservative.”
They launched Dominic Cummings, but quickly ruled him out. So Campbell asked his social media followers: If he did a podcast with a conservative, who would you like it to be?
Most responded with Rory, so although he didn’t know the former cabinet minister, he phoned him and asked his opinion.
Rory liked the idea and, even though he was living in Jordan at the time, where he worked for the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, they recorded their first episode remotely the following week.
The Rest is Politics has over 145 million total downloads and attracts 2.5 million listens per week.
It was through the podcast that a bromance blossomed between Tony Blair’s former adviser and an old Etonian.
Campbell told The Guardian how their friendship was formed with the help of a shared dislike of Boris Johnson and Brexit.
“I think we both have a pretty romantic view of what politics can be,” Campbell said. He added: “When we started, we both hated what Johnson represents and what he has done.”
While they may not agree on every issue, the duo has come to appreciate each other’s opinions and tolerate the times when they differ.
And now they’ve captured the attention of millions of listeners, who diligently tune in to listen to every episode of The Rest Is Politics and see them live on stage.
The podcast description reads: ‘Two men who have been at the heart of the political world… join forces across the political divide.
‘The Rest Is Politics reveals the secrets of Westminster and offers an insider’s view of domestic and foreign politics, while recapturing the lost art of agreeably disagreeing.
TikTok user Isabella described The Rest is Politics live show as her version of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.
Pictured: Podcast hosts Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell on the This Morning TV show in October 2024
The Rest Is Politics have toured the UK four times since their release in March 2022, selling out shows each time.
The podcast has over 145 million downloads so far and attracts 2.5 million listens per week.
And with their success has come a particularly dedicated fan base that some might refer to as groupies.
Campbell recalled how his wife Fiona Millar and daughter Grace thought the audience at the Albert Hall live show was “completely mad” after hearing attendees discuss the words they most liked to hear him and Stewart utter.
The new fame has also seen them “constantly” detained on the street; – he told The Guardian – by “mostly women.”
It’s a movement reflected on social media, with content creator Isabella, who goes by @isabellaonfilm on TikTok, describing the This Is Politics tour as her version of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, adding that it is: “The real love story”.
Elsewhere, Charli, @charliiegurl on TikTok, shared a clip of her with a friend on the live tour, painting in hand, and comparing it to a Sabrina Carpenter concert.
And if that wasn’t enough, Campbell and Stewart have even scored tribute t-shirts, described as “a wardrobe essential for any The Rest Is Politics fan”, with fans sporting the £23 merch on the dates of the sold out tour.