Matt Cavanagh (born 1971) is a British political adviser and author. He was a special adviser in the UK Labour government (2003–10). He worked for Home Secretary David Blunkett; for Chancellor Gordon Brown; for Defence Secretary Des Browne; and for Gordon Brown again as Prime Minister from June 2007 to May 2010. Subsequently, he was an associate director at the

Institute for Public Policy Research The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a Progressivism, progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 by Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, Lord Hollick and John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, Lord Eatwell, and is an independen ...

, working on UK immigration policy. He now works in the private sector as Director of Government Relations for

Prudential plc Prudential plc is a British-domiciled Multinational corporation, multinational insurance and asset management company headquartered in London and Hong Kong. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working peop ...

Biography

Matthew Cavanagh was born in 1971. He was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS or simply Modern) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowme ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, where he read PPE, and then took a BPhil and DPhil in Philosophy. From 1996 to 2000 he was lecturer in Philosophy at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

. From 2000 to 2003 he was a strategy consultant for the

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...

. Cavanagh is the author of Against Equality of Opportunity a controversial work of 2002 that criticises conventional understandings of the doctrine of equality of opportunity. It gained positive reviews across the political spectrum, including in the

Times Educational Supplement ''TES'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity th ...

and in

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

. Other reviews were mixed, including Jeremy Waldron in the

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

and in the Guardian. Two years later in 2004, with Cavanagh now working as a special adviser, the Guardian returned to the book with a front-page story arguing that his views on race and equal opportunity made him unfit to work in government. This led to widespread calls for Cavanagh to be sacked, with questions tabled in Parliament, and the affair rumbled on for a few days.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

letters page carried a balance of letters for and against Cavanagh. In 2009 he was briefly in the news again, when he was accused of putting pressure on NHS statisticians to release statistics on knife crime prematurely. The UK Statistics Watchdog reprimanded Downing Street, and again there were calls for his sacking, including from the Public Administration Committee. Cavanagh has written on Afghanistan and other subjects for Prospect and

magazines. He is a regular contributor to a number of blogs including the

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

, and Labour Uncut. He was the British national champion at

Rugby fives Rugby fives is a handball game, similar to squash, played in an enclosed court. It has similarities with Winchester fives (a form of Wessex fives) and Eton fives. It is played mainly in the United Kingdom. It is most commonly believed to ...

in 2004 and 2006, and has since been a veteran winner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavanagh. Matt Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of St Catherine's College, Oxford Living people British special advisers People educated at Bedford Modern School 1971 births