Rumoured Presidential candidate Jeb Bush has hired a Christian anti-gay activist to join his campaign team.

Mr Bush, the brother of George W Bush and former Governor of Florida, is thought to be strongly considering a run for President in 2016.

The Republican, who is generally seen as one of the more moderate contenders, made a surprising appointment this week when he hired right-wing activist Jordan Sekulow to his Political Action Committee – often seen as a precursor to a formal campaign.

Mr Sekulow was the executive director of the ultra-conservative American Center for Law and Justice – named in 2013 as one of the “four worst anti-gay villains” in the world by Human Rights Watch, for its role in lobbying for anti-gay laws.

With the ACLJ, Mr Sekulow lobbied a number of countries to keep homophobic laws in place, encouraging governments in Africa to make sure gay sex remained illegal. The ACLJ is known to have had influence in a number of countries with anti-gay laws, including Kenya and Zimbabwe.

The activist has also described homosexuality as an “abomination”, “unnatural”, “indecent” and “a perversion.”

Sekulow, who is chair of the Christian Broadcast Network, said: “Governor Bush knows how to take bold conservative ideas and put them into action.

“While we must continue to fight the bad policies and unconstitutional overreaches of the current administration, it is time for conservatives to start talking to all Americans about how we, as a nation, can lead again at home and abroad.

“I am excited to begin a conversation with conservatives about Governor Bush’s pro-life, pro-family, tax-cutting record in Florida and the ideas we need to put into action to give every American a chance to rise up.”

The Log Cabin Republicans – a partisan pressure group on LGBT issues – cited the appointment as “concerning”.

It comes just weeks after Mr Bush hired an openly gay senior adviser, Tim Miller, to the same PAC.