With the long-awaited U.K. 2024 General Election date set, all of Britain’s political parties are gearing up to begin their campaigns, fighting hard to claim the keys to 10 Downing Street. With many issues such as the economy, immigration and foreign affairs likely to dominate the campaigns and debates, Arts & Theatre is often overlooked in the bustle of election fever. So how are the Arts & Theatre industries represented in Westminster, and who’s looking to hold these top jobs for the next Parliamentary terms?
Our Industry in Whitehall
Before we look at the Members of Parliament themselves, we first need to consider the permanence in our representation. Whitehall is the home of the Civil Service, based in London. With only 650 MPs in Parliament, enacting political change and transferring this into tangible action goes through a silent army of civil servants in the various government departments. These civil servants are non-partisan and unlike the MPs above them, are not elected to their positions, so stay in post regardless of who forms the government or, crucially, who the Prime Minister is. No matter which political party wins the election and forms the next government, the staff in Whitehall enacting policy remains the same.
Whitehall is made up of, most notably, of 24 ministerial departments, including the Cabinet Office, Home Office, Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence, each led by a Cabinet member in Parliament. Each is designed to provide leadership to their relevant industries, as well as feeding information to the Prime Minister, through their Secretary of State. Arts & Theatre is represented by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, headed by the Culture Secretary. The Department for Culture Media and Sport features four named ministerial positions, three in the House of Commons and one in the House of Lords. So who holds these positions currently, and who have the other parties lined up to scrutinise them?
H.M. Government – The Conservative Party
The Conservatives form the current government. First taking to office in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010 before securing their majority in 2015, the Conservatives have been forming the U.K. Government continuously since then. The Current Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is Lucy Frazer KC MP (Conservative, South East Cambridgeshire). She has held this position since February 2023, having held previous ministerial positions including Transport Secretary, Solicitor General and Housing and Planning Minister, and has been an MP continuously since the 2015 General Election.
She is supported by three other ministerial appointments; Stuart Andrew MP, Julia Lopez MP and Lord Parkinson. Stuart Andrew MP (Conservative, Pudsey) is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society which he has held since September 2022 at the beginning of Liz Truss’ administration. He has previously been the Minister for Prisons and Probation, Minister for Housing and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities. Julia Lopez MP (Conservative, Hornchurch and Upminster) is the Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries, held continuously since September 2022, besides her maternity absence between May and December 2023. She has previously held the post of Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office and is currently also holding the role of Minister of State for Data and Digital Infrastructure. She has been a Member of Parliament since the 2017 General Election.
In the House of Lords is Lord Stephen Parkinson of Whitley Bay, a life peer (non-inheritable title) since 2019, having been nominated in the resignation honours list of Theresa May. He was a Lord-in-Waiting before becoming Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts in September 2021 until September 2022, and then became the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts and Heritage in October 2022.
These four make up the government’s dedicated representation for Arts & Theatre in the Houses of Parliament, but after fourteen years of the Conservatives in Downing Street and having been behind in the polls for over two years consecutively, who is aiming to replace them?
H.M. Opposition – The Labour Party
The Labour Party have been in Opposition since 2010, following a thirteen-year stretch in government between 1997 and 2010. Since then, the party has never claimed more than 40% of the seats in Parliament, with their most successful result in Opposition coming in the 2017 General Election, where they secured 262 seats. As the largest non-governmental party, the Labour Party current forms His Majesty’s Official Opposition, although all non-governmental MPs are classed as Opposition members.
The Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport is Thangam Debbonaire (Labour, Bristol West). An MP since the 2015 General Election, she has held several Shadow Cabinet positions, including Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Shadow Minister for Exiting the European Union, before taking her current post in September 2023. The Labour frontbench consists of four additional Commons ministers (Stephanie Peacock MP, Lilian Greenwood MP, Chris Bryant MP and Barbara Keeley MP), and two Lords spokespeople (Baroness Thornton and Lord Bassam).
Stephanie Peacock MP (Labour, Barnsley East) was elected in the 2017 General Election. She has been the Shadow Minister for Fisheries, Water and Flooding and Shadow Minister for Veterans before taking her post as Shadow Minister for Sport, Gambling and Media in 2023. Lilian Greenwood MP (Labour, Nottingham South) became an MP in the 2010 General Election, and has served continuously in roles such as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport and Shadow Deputy Chief Whip. In September 2023, she became Shadow Minister for Arts, Heritage and Civil Society.
Former Conservative Party member Chris Bryant MP (Labour, Rhondda) was elected to Parliament in 2001 under Tony Blair, spending time as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Europe and Asia. His current position within the Shadow Cabinet is Shadow Minister for Creative Industries and Digital. Finally for Opposition MPs is Barbara Keeley (Labour, Worsley and Eccles South), elected in 2005. As with Chris Bryant, she spent time as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, and holds the post of Shadow Minister for Music and Tourism.
In the House of Lords sit Baroness Glenys Thornton of Manningham (life peer, non-inheritable title), who was nominated by Tony Blair in 1998 and Lord Steve Bassam of Brighton (life peer) nominated in 1997. Both hold the position of Shadow Spokesperson.
Other Parties
Having considered the two parties most likely to form the next government, we also should consider the representatives of smaller parties within Westminster (and in some cases, outside). As neither the Government nor Official Opposition party, these groups don’t have a full Shadow Cabinet, rather spokespeople on a range of issues.
The Scottish National Party (SNP)
The Scottish National Party have contingents in both Holyrood and Westminster, currently as the third largest political party in the House of Commons and the Government in the devolved Scottish administration. The Shadow SNP Spokesperson for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is John Nicholson MP (SNP, Ochil and South Perthshire). He first became an MP in the 2015 General Election in the East Dunbartonshire seat, beating future Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, who he subsequently lost the seat to in the 2017 General Election. He then gained his current seat in the 2019 General Election. This is his first and only Shadow SNP Spokesperson brief.
Liberal Democrats
The fourth largest party in Westminster is the Liberal Democrats, with only fifteen MPs. They have one spokesperson in each House of Parliament. In the House of Commons is Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross), which he has held since the 2017 General Election. In the Lords is Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (life peer, non-inheritable title) who has sat in the House since 2004.
The Green Party
The Green Party currently have only one MP in the House of Commons (Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Pavilion), who has remained the only Green MP since 2010. However, she is stepping down this year and will not stand for re-election. The Green Party has a network of spokespeople, including Culture, Sport and Digital Inclusion spokesperson Jack Lenox, but as he currently is not in the House of Commons, has no tangible impact on Parliamentary politics. With the Green Party having only one seat, they risk losing their only MP in the upcoming General Election, despite fielding a candidate in every seat in England and Wales.
Reform UK
Reform UK is the youngest party considered here, having been founded as the Brexit Party in 2018. They are polling at approximately 10% and standing in every mainland seat, but have no MPs currently in the House and also have no official spokesperson for Arts & Theatre industries.
The 2024 General Election is set to be a hard-fought campaign for all parties, each hoping to establish or maintain their grip on power. With Arts & Theatre often overlooked, only time will tell what the parties’ manifestos will say, and who will be sitting in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport by the end of the year.
The 2024 U.K. General Election will take place on July 4th
