Maxwell Clifford (born April 6, 1943 in Kingston, Surrey) is a British publicist. Although his client range is varied, he is a controversial figure for sometimes representing unpopular clients (such as those accused or convicted of crimes) and acting as an agent to people selling "kiss-and-tell" stories to tabloid newspapers. A traditional Labour supporter, Clifford openly vowed to bring down the government of John Major because he personally felt, due to family reasons (his one child was born with rheumatoid arthritis), that the National Health Service was mismanaged.

As a young man he was a press officer for EMI, and helped to promote The Beatles early in their career. He has represented other celebrities including Jimi Hendrix, Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, David Copperfield, O.J. Simpson and Mohamed Al-Fayed. Lesser-known clients include brain-damaged boxer Michael Watson, former MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson, and Tony Martin (a Norfolk farmer imprisoned for fatally shooting a burglar).

Clifford was instrumental in exposing David Mellor's affair with Antonia de Sancha, that derailed John Major's Back to Basics agenda. He helped expose Jeffrey Archer. In 2005, he paid damages to settle defamation proceedings brought by Neil and Christine Hamilton after he represented Nadine Milroy-Sloane, who was later found to have falsely accused the Hamiltons of sexual assault.

Clifford was the publicist behind the legendary British tabloid newspaper headline FREDDIE STARR ATE MY HAMSTER. See Freddie Starr for more details.

In July 2005 he told reporters that he would not represent Michael Jackson after he was found innocent of child abuse charges. He said, "It would be the hardest job in PR after Saddam Hussein".

He was accused by David Blunkett at the beginning of November 2005 of having a role in his second resignation. This derived from claims made on behalf of a much younger woman, who had become involved with Blunkett, over Blunkett's business interests, which were published in The Times. Later that week Clifford was accused of arranging a distraction from the assault made by his friend Rebekah Wade on her husband, Eastenders actor Ross Kemp, via the "coincidence" of the other "Mitchell brother", Steve McFadden being in a similar incident with an ex-partner. Clifford denied all responsibility.

On 26 April 2006, Clifford represented John Prescott's diary secretary Tracey Temple, in selling her story for "an awful lot more" than £100,000 to the Mail on Sunday about their two year affair between 2002 and 2004. This relationship is said to have commenced after an office party.

Reporter Louis Theroux followed Max Clifford in the BBC2 2002 programme When Louis Met… Max Clifford

On 4 May 2006, Clifford announced his intention to expose politicians who fail to abide by the standards expected to them in public office. He named his team of undercover reporters as "a dedicated and loyal bunch".