Matthew McGregor was appointed as Mr Burnham’s head of political strategy this week but has quickly faced a backlash for his previous work with charities that have campaigned to abolish citizen-stripping and sought to bring ‘Isis brides’ back to Britain.
In taking the top job in Number 10, Mr McGregor waved goodbye to a role with Canaries fan site Along Come Norwich, but also moved on from two decades working for left-wing political campaign groups.
Mr McGregor has previously worked with a number of left-wing campaign groups (Image: McGregor)
His earlier work – and series of tweets from a recently deleted Twitter account – appear to have landed the Canaries fan in hot water days into the new role.
He most recently served at the chief executive of the activist organisation 38 Degrees and previously served as director of campaigns and communications at Hope Not Hate.
He also joined the board of Reprieve in 2022, an organisation that lobbies the UK government to abolish citizenship stripping – the act of the act of revoking a person’s British citizenship, most often used against those who left the UK to join Isis.
The charity also aims to “challenge the toxic narrative that women detained in Syria are ‘Isis brides'”.
His previous have led to criticism from political opponents. Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, told the Spectator: “Isis brides like Shamima Begum have no place on our streets.
Priti Patel has criticised Mr McGregor (Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
“It is alarming that someone so senior in Mr Burnham’s operation doesn’t see that. Mr Burnham must tell the public if he will seek to bring terrorists into our country.”
Mr McGregor, who deleted his Twitter account on Friday afternoon, called Nigel Farage a “racist piece of s**t” in 2016 and also called for Ofcom, the TV regulator, to tighten its rules on politicians hosting news channels.
Hope Not Hate, another former employer of Mr Burnham’s new man, has also faced criticism from Mr Farage – who has lodged two formal complaints against the group and previously accused it of interfering in the Makerfield by-election.
The advocacy group had ran a campaign highlighting Reform candidate Robert Kenyon’s controversial social media posts.
Mr Burnham was crowned as the new Labour leader on Friday (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Mr Burnham was crowned Labour’s new leader on Friday. The former Greater Manchester mayor is now preparing to enter Number 10 on Monday and replace Sir Keir Starmer.
A CANARY IN NUMBER 10
While Mr McGregor has been chosen by the next prime minister because of his decades of experience in the political sector, he’s also spent many years championing the views of City fans for the Canaries fan-site, Along Come Norwich.
Alongside his years working for campaign groups and charities, the 46-year-old has found time to write articles and speak on podcasts for the fan channel.
An essay uploaded on his personal blog detailed that the first game he watched as a City fan was the 1985 Milk Cup final, where the Canaries beat Sunderland 1-0 at Wembley to claim one of their most memorable wins.
Celebrations were wild after Norwich City won the Milk Cup at Wembley in 1985 (Image: Newsquest Library)
His deleted Twitter account, which listed football in his bio sandwiched in between “politics” and “anti-fascism”, lays out his love for the game.
While Mr McGregor now lives in Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham’s home turf and the future location of a well publicised ‘Number 10 North’, he moved to Norwich in 1980 with his family, and went to his first live game in 1989 when he watched City lose 1-3 to Charlton at Carrow Road.
Once a season ticket holder, the move up north saw him maintain his love for the club in a role with Along Come Norwich – where he was a regular contributor and editor.
After the news of his switch to Downing Street, Along Come Norwich posted on X to say: “We can confirm ACN website editor Matthew McGregor has completed a permanent transfer to Number 10 for an undisclosed fee, subject to completion of the necessary paperwork
“Everyone at ACN thanks Matthew for his commitment, professionalism, and mad bantz during his time with us.”