Alastair Campbell to work for the BBC

Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former spin doctor, is set to become a feature on the nation's television screens, appearing on a new BBC reality show called The Speaker. The programme, which will attempt to find the country's best young orator, will use the same format as ITV's The X Factor.

According to the Observer, Campbell (pictured), who is by his own account something of an expert on public speaking - his website boasts: "Whether on stage at a sizable annual conference, or around the boardroom table with a select few, Alastair is a charismatic performer" - will act as a "mentor" to the contestants.

His new job heralds a thaw in his relations with the BBC, following their monumental clash over the Iraq war. The BBC claimed Campbell had asked for a dossier about Iraq's weapons capability to be "sexed-up", so strengthening the government's case for going to war. The inquiry that followed, led by Lord Hutton, vindicated Campbell, a former tabloid journalist, of the charge, which in turn led to the resignation of the Beeb's Director General Greg Dyke.

However, while the BBC appears to have forgiven him, Campbell might have a rough ride with another of the mentors on The Speaker - Earl Spencer, the brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Campbell once described him as "inbred-looking" and "a hypocritical, upper-class little pillock".