Jonathan Powell

Off the Record with Alistair Bunkall

Jonathan Powell was Tony Blair’s Chief of Staff from the moment he entered Downing St to the moment he left.

He was at the Prime Minister's side for a decade in number 10.

During that time they navigated the country through the terror attacks of 9/11 and 7/7, the death of Princess Diana, fuel strikes, foot and mouth disease and wars in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and of course, Iraq.

He was also Blair’s chief negotiator for the Northern Ireland peace process.

Today Jonathan put those skills to use, establishing secret back channels with insurgents and fragile states.

“We cannot kill all the terrorists, so we will have to talk to them at some stage,” he once said.

His work has taken him to North Korea, Libya, Afghanistan and Colombia.

Jonathan Powell is now the man, who talks to terrorists.