Ordinary Guyanese, extraordinary nation: President Ali opens up to UK’s Alastair Campbell

In a lively and often humorous one-hour conversation with Alastair Campbell, host of the UK’s hit podcast ‘The Rest is Politics: Leading,‘ President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali opened up about his childhood, faith, national unity, economic growth, food security, the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and even cricket.

It marked the first time a sitting president from the Americas has appeared on what is arguably one of the world’s most influential political podcasts.

Launched just two and a half years ago, The Rest is Politics attracts 2.5 million listeners each week. Normally co-hosted by Campbell and Rory Stewart, this episode was a one-on-one with Campbell, the former Daily Mirror journalist and ex-press secretary to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Asked about his upbringing, President Ali told Campbell:

“I consider myself a very ordinary Guyanese with the great responsibility of leading this beautiful nation.”

Asked about being a Muslim leader in a majority-Christian country, the president painted a picture of harmony and warmth:

“You won’t feel any religious pressure. You’ll feel as if you’re in a very happy environment. Because Guyanese are like that — they’re very happy people, very life-oriented in that they try as hard as possible to strike that balance in life.”

On Guyana’s rapid economic rise, Campbell suggested oil and gas were the key drivers. President Ali pushed back:

“Oil and gas revenue is not wealth — it’s revenue. Wealth is what you build by investing that revenue wisely.”

The president stressed that his administration is building a broad-based economy, with ecotourism, food security, energy security, and climate security integral to the national plan.

When challenged on the seeming contradiction between selling carbon credits and expanding oil production, President Ali remained calm, pointing out that Guyana’s vast rainforest, “a forest forever that is the size of England and Scotland combined,” stores 19.5 gigatonnes of carbon and gives the country one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world.

“Even with our greatest exploration of the oil and gas resource we have now… Guyana will still be net zero. With all our exploration, we will still be net zero.”

Reflecting the position of a climate realist, President Ali noted that since the world will still need fossil fuels by 2050, the focus should be on producing oil with the least possible climate impact, and that puts Guyana “at number one” for net-zero compliance.

The president also recalled the importance of keeping forests on the UN climate agenda, crediting then–UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for backing forest protection at COP26 in Glasgow. That prompted a playful exchange:

Campbell, mock-scandalised:

“You’ve just broken one of the cardinal rules of this podcast, you said something almost positive about Boris Johnson. That is not allowed under any circumstances!”

President Ali, laughing:

“Maybe it’s my style. I first look at all the positive things about people.”

It is a rare and unmissable political interview that mixes policy depth with genuine warmth, offering a glimpse of the man behind Guyana’s presidency, and the nation he insists is anything but ordinary.