Has the spin doctor had his wings clipped?

Alastair Campbell will concentrate on election planning

By BBC News Online's political correspondent Nick Assinder.

Tony Blair's official spokesman Alastair Campbell is regularly referred to by disgruntled Labour backbenchers as the second most powerful man in Britain.

He is claimed to have a Rasputin-like hold over the prime minister and to have been given carte blanche to discipline ministers.

He has always denied that he has unprecedented influence on Tony Blair and insists he is simply the PM's agent.

But there has been growing concern about his role and, as expressed in the latest Neill committee report, the rise in the number and importance of spin doctors in general.

And, despite all the denials, it is hard to overstate Mr Campbell's importance in Downing Street.

Running the show

One story graphically sums up his relationship with his boss. Some time after the general election a national newspaper wanted to take a family picture of Mr Blair and his wife Cherie.

The photographer, a renowned Fleet Street veteran, set up a shot of the couple in profile, nose to nose.

Just as he was about to take the picture, Mr Campbell stormed into the room and shouted: "What the hell do you think you are doing" - and he was talking to the prime minister, not the photographer.

There are numerous similar stories doing the rounds in Westminster and they all suggest one thing - that Mr Campbell is running the show.

But now we are told he is to scale down the number of briefings he gives to political journalists.

In future Godric Smith, a civil servant and therefore banned from "spinning", will be hosting more of the twice-daily press briefings.

This has led to intense speculation in Westminster over Mr Campbell's future, with some claiming he has been harmed by the recent rows over his activities and, most recently, the disaster of Mr Blair's Women's Institute appearance.

Election looming

It is being suggested that Mr Campbell's spell over the prime minister has finally been broken and is he on the way out.

It is certainly true that "spin doctor" has now virtually become a term of abuse.

And there is a growing campaign amongst MPs to clip the wings of Mr Campbell and his ilk.

But it would be a mistake to interpret the latest moves as a curbing of Mr Campbell's power.

It seems far more likely that he and the prime minister have decided he can use his time far more productively than in briefing an increasingly troublesome press pack.

His decision probably has far more to do with the fact that a general election is looming and Mr Blair wants his closest aides to devote all their time to planning a second victory.

Most now expect the prime minister's other guru, Peter Mandelson, to be reshuffled out of his job in Northern Ireland and brought back to London so he can also devote his time to election planning.

So, far from clipping Mr Campbell's wings, it appears the prime minister has has actually strengthened his position.