Controversial political pundit Alastair Campbell’s true dream was to play for the Keighley Cougars, he has revealed.

The Keighley-born former Labour spin doctor revealed his schoolboy hopes in a link to his blog on the lovekeighley.co.uk wesbite, Alastair is the latest big name to publicly back the “Love Keighley” campaign, designed to boost the town’s appeal to visitors and residents alike.

Alastair — a former journalist and head of communications for the Labour Party — says his boyhood ambitions were to play rugby league for Keighley and Great Britain, football for his favourite team Burnley and Scotland and cricket for Yorkshire and England.

He added that he was happy to support the Love Keighley campaign “without any reservation”.

The re-branding is designed to promote the extent and variety of what’s on offer in the town from attractions, arts and sport to shopping, education and services. As Keighlians who have made their mark globally, famous people, including Oscar-winner Simon Beaufoy and Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson are being asked to help promote worldwide their town of origin. Alastair, author of The Blair Years, was born in Oakworth and lived in Keighley until the age of 11, when he moved to Leicestershire.

The father-of-three said he had fond memories of Keighley and the surrounding villages where he used to accompany his father, who was a vet for the Campbell Crabtree and Green practice, formerly based on Devonshire Street, on his rounds.

He has supported the town’s Labour Party and sportKeighley fundraisers and was invited to be the guest speaker at last year’s Keighley Show, which was cancelled due to waterlogged conditions. He has accepted an invitation to speak at this year’s show. Alastair said: “The Labour Party event enabled me to renew a friendship with my best friend from Utley Primary School, John Bailey.”

He added: “We are nothing without our family and our background and though circumstances forced us to leave Keighley when I was still growing up, I am very proud to see it recorded in my passport as my place of birth and grateful for what it gave me in my first 11 years of life.

“Good luck to the town and to your initiative celebrating it,” he said.

ª Keighley-born BBC Look North weatherman Paul Hudson has given his backing to the campaign.

He said: “When I lived in Keighley I used to regularly walk up to Goose Eye or Slippery Ford, but if I was feeling particularly energetic Top Withens. The weather was invariably poor but within half an hour whichever direction you walk in you are in some of the best countryside around. But that’s run very close by Timothy Taylor’s brewery, which brews the best beer in the world.”