In Labour governments, of which there have not been many, being minister for the arts or, more recently, secretary of state for culture is usually a role for an up-and-coming politician. Perhaps only Jennie Lee in the 1964–70 governments of Harold Wilson has had a transformative effect on the nation, tripling the funding of the Arts Council of Great Britain and turning plans for a ‘university of the air’ into reality with the Open University.
Few former culture secretaries have made it to Downing Street, however, so Rakewell can’t help being interested in the fact that Britain’s seventh prime minister since 2016 has more knowledge of arts policy than some. Before becoming an MP, Andy Burnham was a special advisor to Chris Smith, secretary of state for culture between 1998–2001, the foundational period for New Labour’s cultural policies when national museums became free to enter and money was poured into capital projects around the country. It’s a period Burnham skips in the memoir/manifesto Head North (2024), co-written with Liverpool City region mayor Steve Rotheram: perhaps it doesn’t sound outsiderish enough? But Burnham does recall the moment in January 2008 when Gordon Brown rang him, saying, ‘Would you do me a favour and go to Culture?’ Burnham’s response: ‘A favour, Gordon? I honestly couldn’t think of anything better. I won’t let you down.’ And then ‘When I hung up the phone, my feet barely touched the floor. I pretty much flew out of Her Majesty’s Treasury and went straight up Whitehall to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport by Trafalgar Square.’ (In a neat irony, Burnham took the department over from James Purnell, who is now his chief of staff.)
Rakewell would give a lot to have been a fly on the wall when Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport since 2024, learnt that she was not going anywhere, but could add ‘Digital’ to the title of the department. In his first address to the nation as prime minister, Andy Burnham promised to ‘make this moment a circuit breaker for the nation’. Which makes us wonder why the arts are missing out. If the conversations your roving correspondent has had this week are any indication – and by conversations, we mean expressions of dismay and disbelief – the UK has rarely had such an uninterested culture secretary in years – despite some very stiff competition – and Lisa Nandy is now the longest serving holder of her office for some time. Now that she has been reappointed, she has to manage the renewal of the BBC’s charter, social media regulation, the role of Arts Council England, the ongoing crisis in regional museums and the future of national museums that are finally starting to feel the pinch. The only cultural part of her brief Nandy has seemed to relish is the setting up of the UK’s Town of Culture (winner to be picked in 2027), but there is a lot more to the job than this.
If any arts leaders have welcomed Nandy’s reappointment, Rakewell has yet to see it. (Apologies in advance if this observation means that the leaders of National Portfolio Organisations suddenly start swearing allegiance to Nandy.) The Music Publishers Association did tuck in a mention, in an Instagram post that led with the new prime minister’s well-known love of music (largely made by men from Manchester with guitars). The chief executive of the Betting and Gaming Council also spoke up for Nandy: ‘She has consistently recognised the important contribution our regulated betting, casino and online sector makes to Britain’s economy.’ Rakewell can believe this, but hopes that the Secretary of State might find other areas of her brief more thrilling than she has so far.
