Culture Secretary

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport wasn’t exactly what the Manchester-born Shadow International Development Minister Lisa Nandy had in mind in the months leading up to July’s general election.

Nandy, 45, had counted on the international development brief —a natural extension of her work since September 2023. But there was a fly in the ointment: Shadow Culture Secretary Thangam Debbonaire, a cello-playing arts champion, lost her Bristol seat to the Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer, leaving the key role open.

If Keir Starmer’s triumphs at the polls on 4 July, Thangam Debbonaire is set to become the Labour Party’s first Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in 14 years.

No one who works in broadcasting needs any reminding that the 14 years of Conservative administrations have seen no fewer than 12 culture secretaries, ranging from the first and longest serving, Jeremy Hunt, who held the post for two years, to the present minister, Lucy Frazer, whose willingness to engage with the creative industries has won her admirers across the sector.