Brendan Nicholas BuckleyMBE (born April 1968) is a British charity worker and political figure, a member of Advance UK, who previously represented Reform UK. He spent 15 years working with the homeless. In 2011, he founded The Mancunian Way, a charity which dismissed him in 2020 after he posted an article critical of the Black Lives Matter movement; however, the board of trustees later resigned and Buckley was reinstated. He was a candidate for Advance UK in the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election.[1]
Buckley grew up in the Longsight area of Manchester.[2] He held numerous positions at Manchester City Council, starting as a youth intervention officer[2] until 2011, when his role as a Community Safety Co-ordinator, which he held during the 2011 Manchester riots, was terminated by the City Council due to budget cuts. Instead of taking an offered alternative job he took his severance and used it to found a charity named Mancunian Way,[2][3] which worked to reduce antisocial behaviour[4] via prevention and intervention.[5]
In 2018, Buckley stood as an independent candidate in the local council elections for the Deansgate ward of Manchester.[6] Buckley received 164 votes in total, and did not gain office. The election was won by three Labour candidates.[7] Buckley was recognised at the 2018 NW Charity Awards with the Small Charity Big Impact Award and at the 2019 SME News Finance Awards 2019, winning Greater Manchester Homeless Project of the Year.[8] While Buckley was CEO, the charity he founded was recognised as "Community Project of the Year award" in 2015.[9]
In 2019, Buckley, who spent 15 years working directly with the homeless, stated on BBC Radio that individuals handing out food to the homeless have unintended consequences, including preventing them from getting the necessary support and help to get off the street.[10][11]
After a not guilty verdict over the 2019 stabbing of Yousaf Makki, Buckley criticised comments made by Labour MP Lucy Powell, saying her "words would have a negative effect on teenagers from deprived backgrounds."[12]
In 2020, Buckley wrote an article on Medium which he shared with Mancunian Way staff and on the professional networking site LinkedIn. The article was critical of the Black Lives Matter movement, and was accused of upholding inequalities by those calling for his dismissal via an online petition.[26] The trustees of Mancunian Way dismissed Buckley on 19 June 2020. Buckley was reinstated[27] after reaching a pre-lawsuit agreement with the existing trustees, which saw them step down en masse to be replaced by a new set of trustees.[28]
Wagamama Pride campaign
In September 2022, Buckley criticised the decision of British-Asian restaurant chain Wagamama to form a partnership with the youth transgender charity Mermaids during Pride 2022, further alleging that money raised was funding a "charity that promotes child abuse".[29][bettersourceneeded] Buckley's comments were criticised by the online newspaper PinkNews.[27]
Views about women
During his 2026 candidacy in the Gorton and Denton by-election for Advance UK, Buckley attracted controversy over past social media posts that were criticised as sexist and degrading towards women. According to Searchlight, the posts included remarks describing "many young British women" in derogatory terms, leading to a backlash from within Advance UK's own activists and supporters, who said the comments damaged the party’s public credibility and electoral prospects.[30] Buckley and party leader Ben Habib defended the remarks as taken out of context and argued they were intended to defend women.[citation needed]
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