Understandably, there’s been a lot of interest in Andy Burnham’s new Director of Political Strategy, Matthew McGregor, who was the Director of Campaigns and Communications for Hope Not Hate between 2018-21 and since then Chief Executive Officer for 38 Degrees, a ghastly left-wing pressure group (with a charitable wing).
Ahead of his first day in Number 10, McGregor deleted his X account; clearly he doesn’t want the media trawling through his old posts. However, his digital footprint is far from gone. On LinkedIn you can read McGregor’s “favourite books” for 2025, including How to Defeat the Far Right by Nick Lowles, whom McGregor calls “a brilliant writer to go along with his unique and vital antifascist organising”, as well as confirmation that he wants a wealth tax:
And that’s not all. Various interviews exist with McGregor on YouTube, as recent as in November 2025 when he appeared on Over the Top Under the Radar, a podcast produced by a “Black-owned production company” that values “authenticity and diversity”:
As it took place not that long ago, I was keen to see what McGregor had to say and learn more about the man now given so much power in Downing Street. Here are 10 interesting things I learnt from the two-part interview (mostly but not always in the order they were mentioned):
