Conservative commentators have condemned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's choice of a "woke" and pro-EU public relations chief.
Downing Street announced on Saturday that broadcaster Guto Harri would be coming on board as director of communications.
Harri was Johnson's spokesman and chief of staff when the future PM was Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. But the two men later diverged on a number of issues.
He opposed Britain's exit from the European Union, while Johnson won a landslide in the 2019 general election with the slogan "Get Brexit Done!"
Harri was hired as a host on new TV channel GB News in May 2021, but was suspended in July after bending the knee live on air in support of the England football team and US race campaign Black Lives Matter — while fellow presenter Mercy Muroki looked on bemused. Harri later resigned in protest.
Johnson's Home Secretary Priti Patel called the kneeling display by players "gesture politics".
Conservative Twitter users vented their anger at Harri's hiring — days after Johnson promised traditionalist Tory backbenchers greater say in policy-making at Number 10.
Ben Harris-Quinney tweets about Guto Harri's appointment as PM Boris Johnson's press secretary
Fellow GB News presenter Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit campaign and founder of the Reform Party, implied that Harri had links to Chinese big business.
"I am sure that Tory voters will be thrilled to know that Guto Harri has been working for Hawthorn… who lobby for Huawei," says Nigel Farage