[4] During the 2008 Labour Party Conference, McBride was criticised after briefing journalists about Ruth Kelly's resignation as Secretary of State for Transport several hours before she was due to make an official announcement on the subject.
[6] Following these incidents, McBride ceased to deal with the media on a regular basis and was appointed Head of Strategic Planning in Downing Street.
[5][7] On 11 April 2009, it was reported by The Daily Telegraph that McBride had sent a series of emails to former Labour Party official Derek Draper discussing plans to set up the Red Rag blog which would be used to post rumours they had made up about the private lives of senior and high-profile members of the Conservative Party.
[3] The emails, which had been sent from the Downing Street Press Office, were acquired by Paul Staines, known for his Guido Fawkes blog, who brought them to the attention of the media.
[10] Gordon Brown later sent personal letters to those who had been mentioned in the emails,[11] expressing his regret over the incident,[12] but Conservative politicians called for him to make a public apology.
[citation needed] On 25 April, it was confirmed that Dorries intended to take legal action against McBride for the false allegations which had been made against her.
[16] In his first interview on the subject of the email scandal in July 2009, McBride said that when he told Brown what he had done, the Prime Minister was so angry that he could not speak.
"[22] In 2015, he returned to a senior role in the Labour party as Shadow Defence Secretary Emily Thornberry's media adviser.
"[24] After the 2024 election he was appointed special adviser to Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary and wife of his former Treasury colleague Ed Balls, specialising in fraud policy.