Starmer appoints former Sex Matters board member as communications director

Keir Starmer’s new executive director of communications has links to the ‘gender-critical’ group Sex Matters.

The prime minister picked public relations guru Tim Allan for the role as part of a reshuffle of his Number 10 team earlier this week.

A former special advisor to the Tony Blair government between 1992 and 1998, Allan founded the public relations business Portland in 2001, holding the title of managing director until 2019.

However, it’s his former position as a member of the board of trustees at Sex Matters that has caused concern.

The organisation has promoted trans-exclusive policies, including the exclusion of trans people from single-sex facilities consistent with their gender identity. Its list of principles includes the statement: “There are two sexes: female and male.”

In an Instagram post on Monday (1 August), a spokesperson for not-for-profit organisation Good Law Project expressed concern over Allan’s 11-month stint at Sex Matters, as well as Portland’s ties with Kazakhstan, Qatar and Russia.

“Keir Starmer’s new director of communications isn’t just the founder of Portland Communications,” the post read. “He’s also come straight from the board of the anti-trans charity Sex Matters.”

The spokesperson went on to warn: “The government is heading in a dark direction.”

In a summary of his work with Sex Matters, Allan described the group as a “human rights charity which promotes clarity about sex in law, policy and language”.

In April, responding to a Sex Matters blog post that criticised former equalities minister Penny Mordaunt for saying “trans women are women”, and labelled trans people’s right to use gendered services under the 2010 Equality Act a “myth,” Allan wrote: “Excellent document. Very clear legal history of the issue.”

Portland Communications has also come under scrutiny for links to the Russian government.

According to the Financial Times, Portland’s work for Vladimir Putin’s administration began in 2005 after US marketing group Ketchum won a public relations contract with Moscow.

Ketchum’s sister company, GPlus, sub-contracted Portland and other PR specialists under the contract for about £200,000 a year (close to $300,000 at the time). There is no evidence to show that Allan ever met the Russian president.

Before selling his 95 per cent stake in the company in two deals between 2012 and 2019, for a reported total of almost £40 million (about £62 million in 2019), Allan’s clients included defence group BAE Systems, Heathrow airport and bookies William Hill. One former colleague described him as a “brilliant strategist” and a “good leader” who worked with people who were “incredibly loyal to him.”

Following his appointment to the position, Allan reportedly resigned from all his current directorships and other interests as per Cabinet Office advice.

In Labour’s 2024 manifesto, the Party committed to implementing “single-sex exceptions” to the 2010 Equality Act that would see trans people excluded from gendered spaces consistent with their gender identity.

In April, the prime minister’s office said Starmer no longer believes trans women are women or that trans men are men, writing: “No, the Supreme Court judgement has made clear that when looking at the Equality Act, a woman is a biological woman.”