Alastair Campbell still has that winning touch at Oswestry LitFest

Starting his talk at the Lion Quays on the outskirts of the town, Mr Campbell admitted he was there to "flog a load of books and promote the wonderful award-winning Booka bookshop" before praising the Shropshire Star for not being plagued by the negativity which he said affects national media.

'My political nose tells me Labour can win, the numbers say no-one will win.'

The capacity audience welcomed his comments and settled in for an evening which touched on novel writing and the mind set of English footballers before getting on to the political issues everyone had been eager to hear his thoughts on.

Mr Campbell spent some time taking about US presidents, from George W Bush's command of the English language – "misunderestimating was my favourite" – and Bill Clinton having to sleep on the sofa following the Monica Lewinsky incident – "he said he was the most powerful man in the world and was having to sleep on the sofa, and he was right".

But it wasn't long before the audience got to hear what many had been eagerly anticipating – Mr Campbell's prediction for the General Election.

"I think it's a bit of a problem that politicians are getting younger and younger and they don't have the experience," he admitted.

"Here we are going into an election and all the talk is about what's going to happen when no-one wins.

"My political nose tells me Labour can win, the numbers say no-one will win.

"I think in 50 days we can win it but not if we keep talking about are we going to have a debate and how are we going to deal with the SNP.

"But a grand coalition between Labour and the Tories?

"I don't see it and I certainly don't see the Lib Dems getting wiped out.

"They could end up with more seats.

"At this stage I think this is going to be one of those elections where it will get really exciting towards the end. It's a very interesting election and quite dangerous actually."

Mr Campbell is a prolific writer having published nine books – a mixture of novels, diaries and political insight.

His latest book, Winners: And How They Succeed, includes interviews with sports stars, successful businessmen and women, and politicians, and went to the top of the best sellers list in four days.

"I don't know why I wrote this book other than the idea appealed," he said.

"There's a lot of negativity around at the moment and I wanted to write a very positive book but in a way mere mortals can understand.

"I think there's a yearning for positivity and I think the reason a lot of people have embraced social media is that you can be positive there whereas a lot of mainstream media is very negative.

"I hate losing and I'm involved in this now that I want to win. I want to help Labour and I'm involved in mental health campaigns to try to change the way we think about those issues and I want to win.

"The book's got a message about seeing amazing people do amazing things and relating it to our own lives.

"There's also an important message about politics and business, both of which should take sport more seriously. There's a lot that can be learned from the way successful sports people operate."

Shropshire Star business editor Thom Kennedy introduced Mr Campbell and posed questions to the former Labour spin doctor.

"Oswestry Literary Festival had come on in leaps and bounds since it was started in 2010 and this year's line-up shows it's really come of age," Mr Kennedy said.

"Alastair Campbell is a political heavyweight who has provided an enthralling talk for 200 guests.

"We had some insights and anecdotes from inside the corridors of power and what makes a natural-born winner."

John Waine, the founder of Oswestry LitFest, said he was "absolutely thrilled" with how the event has gone so far.

"All the three headline events we've had have been sold out and we're really pleased with how it's gone.

"With the upcoming election there's a real buzz about politics and Alastair has got some insights into who will win the election," he said.