Mandelbell

Mandelbell
Peter Mandelson / Alastair Campbell
Names	Mandelbell (standard), Mandebell (a less common variant)
Description	Snark, spin, and PTSD

No group of political animals knew in more intimate detail each others' strengths and weaknesses. Campbell was one of the first people to who Mandelson turned to when his father died; when Campbell flirted with death during the alcohol-induced nervous collapse which turned him teetotal, Mandelson was one of the first to come to his side.~ Andrew Rawnsley, Servants of the People

Described in Alastair's words as a "love-hate relationship", Mandelbell is the most prominent New Labour-era ship. The nature of the relationship varied widely in reality and in fanon. The two men have been close friends for thirty years, and their relationship has been through a series of dramatic ups and downs.

History

With Neil and Glenys

Peter and Alastair came to meet in the early 1980s through Peter's friend Fiona, who Alastair was beginning to date. The first time they met, Alastair entered the room playing the bagpipes. They quickly became friends, and Alastair credits Peter with politicising him during the 1980s. In 1985, Peter became Director of Communications of the Labour Party, working closely with Neil Kinnock, another friend of Alastair's. Alastair helped Peter by ghostwriting his column for People magazine.

Peter is friendly with Fiona and with Alastair's children, and was a regular visitor to the Campbell-Millar household, bringing round presents for the children every Christmas and being an object of affection to Rory, Calum and Grace.

In the early 1990s, Peter, the Goulds and the Campbells went on holiday to France, and the Campbell and Gould children voted in favour of Peter shaving off his moustache, which he did instantly.

Peter and Alastair in 1997

In 1994, Alastair became spokesman to Tony Blair, their mutual friend who had become leader of the Labour Party. Peter and Alastair worked very closely on the Party's image, and were both wary of Gordon Brown and his growing team. Alastair describes Peter as being "witty" and "impossible not to like", though they constantly had disagreements and once had a fist fight in 1995 when they clashed over whether Tony should wear a tie to a Young Labour event. Together they coordinated the 1997 election, which was won by a landslide. With Tony in Downing Street, Alastair became Chief Press Secretary and Peter a minister. There were tensions between them in that Peter couldn't accept that he was no longer a spin doctor, and Alastair felt that Peter was trying to tread into his space. With Tony's support, Alastair managed to get Peter under some control, though he couldn't resist briefing the press behind their backs.

In 1998, the worked together to quell a series of scandals that threatened the 'whiter than white' reputation of the Blair Government. In December 1998, Charlie Whelan leaked the story of Peter's undeclared, interest-free loan from Geoffrey Robinson, stirring up serious trouble for the Number Ten spin team. "The full heat of Campbell's flame-thrower temper was turned on him. To his face, Campbell told Mandelson that he had been a 'stupid cunt'." He didn't make a move to protect Peter, and instead began to write his resignation statement as Peter begged Tony for his job. "By the end of the conversation, tears were trickling down Mandelson's sepulchral white cheeks. A dark-eyed Campbell, himself blubbing, gave Mandelson a hug." When Peter dropped in to Alastair's house to give his sons their Christmas presents, they were concerned for him.

In Alastair's house before Peter's second resignation, because photographing your friendship in the presence of recent newspapers to prove it is still alive as though it were the victim of a kidnapping is totally a normal thing that normal, sane people do under these circumstances.

Though Alastair was sympathetic while firing Peter in 1998, he was less kind in 2001. Without a scrap of evidence that Peter was guilty of wrongdoing, Alastair demanded that he be sacked as soon as possible. "The first time he was sacked, Campbell had ghosted his resignation letter for him. This time, as a broken Mandelson crumpled on the sofa, Blair wrote out a resignation statement... Campbell had blubbed over his first fall. There was no repetition of that lachrymosity on this occasion." Later on, when Peter found evidence of his innocence, he went to appeal, but was met with no sympathy.

Peter's behaviour became erratic after his second resignation, and Alastair made all efforts to break off ties between Peter and Number 10, declaring that he was no more than a backbencher, and thus had little connection with the Prime Minister. Andrew Rawnsley recounts one incident in Servants of the People:

Even Robert Harris had been driven to question his friend's sanity. "What are you doing? You're mad," Harris told Mandelson when he announced that he planned to go to Campbell's house in Hampstead that same Saturday night. The long standing invitation was to join a birthday party for Audrey Millar, Campbell's partner's mother. The fallen minister cut a forlorn and solitary figure. He stood apart from the other party goers, positioning himself next to the piano. As the pianist tinkled out a rather maudlin tune, Peter Mandelson began to sing along to it. After an awkward interlude, the other guests began to join in.

Peter's relationship with Downing Street became more distant, though he remained in close contact with Tony and Alastair, helping to plan the 2001 general election, and spinning Cherie out of trouble over "flatgate". He accused Alastair of "using me and throwing me out in the gutter like a piece of rubbish", though they largely settled their differences over the years. They worked together on the 2010 general election, Alastair and Peter training Gordon for the election debates. They stood together on Gordon's final day in Downing Street, quietly applauding him.

Peter and Alastair look on as the New Labour era draws to a close (they're on either side of the door)

Support

From the 1980s, Peter and Alastair have been very close friends, colleagues, emotional crutches and holiday-buddies. They had a habit of sitting very close together on sofas while Alastair pulped out trash for Peter's People column.

In the mid-1990s, after their fights in meetings, Peter and Alastair would go out for walks and meals together. One night, Peter entertained Alastair by "putting on the campest voice possible" and waving to stunned bundles of people in Westminster shouting "Love you lots!"

Alastair: I'm horny. I'm really horny. Want to pop to the gents?
Peter: Tony's wearing a nice tie.

In the 2010 documentary The Real PM, Peter and Alastair were seen reunited during the first election debate, where Peter commented that Alastair had a "very gay tie". Alastair replied that Peter had given it to him- surely an unusual gift from a colleague- and then amused Peter by singing "Are you lonesome tonight?"

That Interview

In 2004, Alastair filmed an interview with Peter for Channel 5 about New Labour, the relationships between the founders and his resignations. This was punctuated with long, staring silences, and the two eloquent spin doctors were reduced to mumbling behind their hands at each other. This event is known in the fandom as That Interview. It is not known why either of them thought it would be a good idea to do this.

This photo shoot is actually the most normal-looking part of That Interview.

Some in the media have speculated that Alastair set up That Interview to deliberately sabotage Peter with his own unrepentant Peterishness, but given how awkwardly they both come off it seems more likely that it was the result of a temporarily lapse of sanity, rather than a cunning plan.

Fanon

In Culture

Peter and Alastair were both featured as characters in the musical, TONY! The Blair Musical. In this musical, Peter is deeply in love with Tony Blair, who dumps him for Alastair, who is bullish and superficial. Alastair is later dumped for George W. Bush and they both sing "No Me in Tony". They perform a jazz duet called "I did it for Tony", in which they argue over which one of them is Tony's true sidekick, and Alastair bullies Peter for his homosexuality.

The Meme

Peter and Alastair feature heavily on the meme, becoming a popular pairing from around prompt post 7 and peaking in prompt post 9. There are various portrayals of their relationship - from a casual and flirty office affair - to domestic and dedicated, or abusive. Alastair is typically written as the top/dom, while Peter is the bottom/sub, though they occasionally switch, and Peter is prone to topping from the bottom. They are half of the NuLab OT4 and frequently switch partners with the other two (Tony and Gordon). The sexual side of their relationship is largely written as being far from vanilla, regularly employing powerplay, bondage and discipline in consensual and non-consensual frames. They often invite third parties for threesomes - third wheels include Tony, Jonathan, Fiona or George Osborne.

AUs

Ali and Petra in the Girlband AU

Mandelbell features as a pairing in numerous AUs. They date on and off and then permanently split up to go separate ways in Girlband!AU as Petra and Alison. In Toryshire!verse, Mandelbell live a benign existence in the countryside. In strap!verse, there are several alternate strands of Mandelbell narrative, including one SSC kink strand in which the two are in an established relationship, one in which they conspire behind Tony's back, and one in which Alastair and Tony work together and Peter suffers CP at their hands.

In abuse!verse, Peter is caught in an physically, sexually, mentally and emotionally abusive domestic situation with "Evilstair", a psychotic Alastair from an alternate universe. Abuse!verse is linked to some non-SSC strand of strap!verse in "The Political Living".

In the Steampunk!AU, Peter and Alastair are sexually involved, and in "Integral", the relationship between the two begins supportively but becomes ridden with extreme violence. They are paired in the Gorillaz!AU as Murdoc/Noodle, or as Murdoc/Cyborg, the latter of which is Alastair's own innovation, creating a robotic Peter in part to serve as a more effective sexual partner.