“Dismay” as No 10 works with Brendan Cox after misconduct claims
Charity leaders and former aides have expressed their “dismay” at the close working relationship that has developed between No 10 and Brendan Cox, the widowed husband of the murdered MP Jo Cox who has in the past resigned from three charities after claims of sexual misconduct.
Cox, who advised Gordon Brown in Downing Street, is close to many senior Labour figures and is being “informally consulted” on the government’s social cohesion strategy, according to sources familiar with the relationship (a characterisation recognised neither by Cox nor No 10).
Cox is head of strategy at the Together Initiative, the charity behind the Together Coalition, which aims to foster community spirit by bringing different groups together in shared endeavours – for example, the VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations, and the “Big Help Out” volunteering effort coinciding with the King’s coronation.
The Together Coalition convenes the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, which a number of well-placed sources have told the New Statesman the government is informally using to shape its strategy to improve social cohesion in Britain. Cox is the “driving force” behind the commission, according to one figure familiar with the commission’s work. But the New Statesman understands Cox does not believe its work has been explicitly adopted by No 10, which also denies preferential treatment of Cox.
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Between 2 May 2023 and 30 June 2025, the Together Initiative received £1,252,400 in funding from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing in his current role. The New Statesman understands that he speaks to many political parties and government departments about his work, and has done so under previous governments, making no claim to a special relationship with Keir Starmer’s Downing Street. No 10’s position is that it engages with Cox and his charity the same way it does all other organisations in this field, and that he has no exclusive influence. Cox argues he has dedicated his life to building a more cohesive society following his late wife’s murder in 2016 and is frustrated that mistakes from his past risk undermining his work today.
Cox was accused of inappropriate behaviour in 2015 when working as chief strategist at Save the Children, where he was a subject of a sexual harassment complaint. He strenuously denied wrongdoing at the time, but stood down from his post. Three years later, he apologised “deeply and unreservedly” for his behaviour “and for the hurt and offence that I have caused”, as he put it in a 2018 statement. “I do acknowledge and understand that during my time at Save the Children I made mistakes.”
In 2018, he stood down from two further charities, More in Common and the Jo Cox Foundation, when details emerged of a claim that he assaulted a 30-something woman at a Harvard University bar in 2015. A police complaint was reportedly filed for indecent assault and battery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but later dropped. His lawyers denied what they called “spurious allegations” and said no sexual assault took place.
At the time, Labour MPs including Yvette Cooper and Jess Phillips (now the Foreign Secretary and parliamentary under-secretary for violence against women and girls, respectively) said that he had made the right decision to resign his posts, and Labour’s now deputy leader Lucy Powell praised him for “reflecting and taking responsibility for past actions”.
However, there is serious and high-level concern about Cox’s relationship with the Starmer government, according to four sources who spoke to the New Statesman. One figure familiar with the government’s social cohesion work described “discomfort and bewilderment” over his involvement because of the historic allegations. “It’s nuts that they’re still consulting him.” Another described unhappiness and surprise within the sector at Cox’s access to No 10. “What the fuck are they doing?” asked another.
“The fall-out [of the allegations] was across newspapers,” says a former colleague of Cox who worked with him at Save the Children and knew of the allegations made by women against him. “No 10 cannot pretend that they did not know about it or that it did not come up in their due diligence checks. They know it and they have decided that it doesn’t matter because he is useful to them.”
While Cox and No 10 deny that he is being formally or informally consulted about policy, on 9 February Cox briefed senior charity leaders in the sector on cohesion in a private Zoom call, to what has been described to the New Statesman as the “dismay” of one present, who was left with the impression that he was briefing on the government’s behalf. Cox denies this is the case.
The invitation (seen by the New Statesman) sent to attendees featured a headshot of Starmer’s then deputy chief of staff Vidhya Alakeson (now chief of staff) and promised a “high-level briefing” on cohesion and “an opportunity to hear more about the government’s priorities”. It was sent by the Together Coalition and included its logo, and the invitation was sent in the name of Emeka Forbes, who works on the project with Cox. In the event, Alakeson did not join the call and a No 10 special adviser spoke instead.
Cox also recently spoke at a closed-door event at Downing College, Cambridge. The event was attended by Alakeson, who had been across the cohesion brief in No 10.
Cox has dedicated his career since 2016 to countering extremism and addressing community tensions, and is an expert in this space, lobbying this government, past governments and various parties on it. This June will mark the ten-year anniversary of Jo Cox’s murder by a man who held far-right views, and comes after two summers in a row of protests and rioting over asylum seekers across the country.
That Brendan Cox’s role advising No 10 on this work has been kept “informal” – in the words of some party to the relationship – has fuelled suspicion that No 10 knows it may not be a good look to publicly consult him. Concern has also been expressed to the New Statesman that addressing social cohesion problems in Britain should be a priority, but that a policy vacuum has opened up for outside influences to fill. No 10’s position is that it is neither boycotting nor delegating government work to the Together Coalition.
This news comes at a time when Starmer is being questioned over his judgement, regarding the appointment of Peter Mandelson to US ambassador and the ennoblement of ex-communications chief Matthew Doyle, who campaigned for a known sex offender.
The disquiet over Cox’s role adds to frustration building about Starmer operating a closed shop run by a so-called “boys’ club”, a feeling held among some Labour women, as reported recently in the New Statesman.
No 10 and Cox have been approached for comment.
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