Matt Cavanagh

Matt Cavanagh (born 1971) is a British political adviser and author.^[1]^[2] He was a special adviser in the UK Labour government (2003–10).^[1] He worked for Home Secretary David Blunkett;^[3] for Chancellor Gordon Brown;^[4] for Defence Secretary Des Browne;^[5] and for Gordon Brown again as Prime Minister from June 2007 to May 2010.^[1]^[6] Subsequently, he was an associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research, working on UK immigration policy.^[7] He now works in the private sector as Director of Government Relations for Prudential plc.^[8]

Biography

Matthew Cavanagh was born in 1971.^[9] He was educated at Bedford Modern School^[10] and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read PPE, and then took a BPhil and DPhil in Philosophy.^[1] From 1996 to 2000 he was lecturer in Philosophy at St Catherine's College, Oxford.^[1] From 2000 to 2003 he was a strategy consultant for the Boston Consulting Group.^[1]

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.^[11] It gained positive reviews across the political spectrum, including in the Times Educational Supplement^[12] and in The Spectator.^[13] Other reviews were mixed, including Jeremy Waldron in the London Review of Books^[14] and in the Guardian.^[11]

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.^[15] 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 letters page carried a balance of letters for and against Cavanagh.^[16]

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.^[17] The UK Statistics Watchdog reprimanded Downing Street, and again there were calls for his sacking, including from the Public Administration Committee.^[18]

Cavanagh has written on Afghanistan and other subjects for Prospect^[19] and The Spectator^[20] magazines. He is a regular contributor to a number of blogs including the New Statesman,^[21] The Spectator,^[22] and Labour Uncut.^[23]

He was the British national champion at Rugby fives in 2004 and 2006, and has since been a veteran winner.^[24]^[25]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Matt Cavanagh | Bruegel". 21 October 2015.
^ Cavanagh, Matt (23 August 2002). Against equality of opportunity. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191584046. OCLC 1171244285.
^ Maguire, Kevin (20 March 2004). "Blunkett aide in row over race". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
^ "Special Advisers: 16 Jul 2009: Hansard Written Answers". TheyWorkForYou.
^ Mumford, Andrew (2 January 2018). Counterinsurgency Wars and the Anglo-American Alliance: The Special Relationship on the Rocks. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 9781626164932 – via Google Books.
^ "House of Commons Hansard Ministerial Statements for 16 July 2009 (pt 0008)". publications.parliament.uk.
^ "Matt Cavanagh > Associate Director for UK Migration Policy". IPPR. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ "Vietnam UK Network". www.vietnamuknetwork.org.uk.
^ "Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.co.uk". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
^ The Eagle, Magazine of Bedford Modern School
^ ^a ^b John Crace (26 March 2002). "Equal wrongs | Education". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ "Why we should spurn equality and meritocracy". Times Higher Education. 21 June 2002. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ "Against Equality of Opportunity | Matt Cavanagh | Review by The Spectator". Spectator.co.uk. 16 March 2002. Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ Waldron, Jeremy (19 September 2002). "Jeremy Waldron reviews 'Against Equality of Opportunity' by Matt Cavanagh · LRB 19 September 2002". London Review of Books. 24 (18). Lrb.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ Kevin Maguire (29 March 2004). "Blunkett aide in row over race | Politics". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ "Letters: Philosophy and the real world | Politics". The Guardian. London. 22 March 2004. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ "BBC - Mark Easton's UK: Knife "fact sheet": The e-mail trail".
^ "Uncorrected Evidence 504". Publications.parliament.uk. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ "Inside the Anglo-Saxon war machine". Prospect Magazine. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ "Operation amnesia". The Spectator. 13 April 2011. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ "Matt Cavanagh". New Statesman. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ "Matt Cavanagh | Find Articles | Spectator Magazine". Spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
^ Cavanagh, Matt. "Labour-Uncut". labour-uncut. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
^ "Tournament Winners". RugbyFives.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
^ "2019 Veterans Matt Cavanagh champion 4th time".

[auto-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Matt Cavanagh | Bruegel". 21 October 2015.

[2] Cavanagh, Matt (23 August 2002). Against equality of opportunity. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191584046. OCLC 1171244285.

[3] Maguire, Kevin (20 March 2004). "Blunkett aide in row over race". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.

[4] "Special Advisers: 16 Jul 2009: Hansard Written Answers". TheyWorkForYou.

[5] Mumford, Andrew (2 January 2018). Counterinsurgency Wars and the Anglo-American Alliance: The Special Relationship on the Rocks. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 9781626164932 – via Google Books.

[6] "House of Commons Hansard Ministerial Statements for 16 July 2009 (pt 0008)". publications.parliament.uk.

[7] "Matt Cavanagh > Associate Director for UK Migration Policy". IPPR. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[8] "Vietnam UK Network". www.vietnamuknetwork.org.uk.

[9] "Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.co.uk". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

[10] The Eagle, Magazine of Bedford Modern School

[guardian2002-11] John Crace (26 March 2002). "Equal wrongs | Education". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[12] "Why we should spurn equality and meritocracy". Times Higher Education. 21 June 2002. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[13] "Against Equality of Opportunity | Matt Cavanagh | Review by The Spectator". Spectator.co.uk. 16 March 2002. Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[14] Waldron, Jeremy (19 September 2002). "Jeremy Waldron reviews 'Against Equality of Opportunity' by Matt Cavanagh · LRB 19 September 2002". London Review of Books. 24 (18). Lrb.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[15] Kevin Maguire (29 March 2004). "Blunkett aide in row over race | Politics". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[16] "Letters: Philosophy and the real world | Politics". The Guardian. London. 22 March 2004. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[17] "BBC - Mark Easton's UK: Knife "fact sheet": The e-mail trail".

[18] "Uncorrected Evidence 504". Publications.parliament.uk. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[19] "Inside the Anglo-Saxon war machine". Prospect Magazine. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[20] "Operation amnesia". The Spectator. 13 April 2011. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[21] "Matt Cavanagh". New Statesman. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[22] "Matt Cavanagh | Find Articles | Spectator Magazine". Spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2012.

[labour-uncut-23] Cavanagh, Matt. "Labour-Uncut". labour-uncut. Retrieved 21 May 2013.

[24] "Tournament Winners". RugbyFives.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

[25] "2019 Veterans Matt Cavanagh champion 4th time".

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Matt Cavanagh

Biography

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