As the Government has settled into its new roles following the 2024 General Election, ensuring that a strong Opposition is prepared to face them is crucial, and with the former Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport losing her seat, it was time for a new figure to rise into her place to face Lisa Nandy and her Culture, Media & Sport ministerial team. Heading to the Capital and into the stunning setting of Portcullis House, I recently sat down with the man tasked with advocating for our cultural industries, to hear about his plans for Opposition, and his career prior to the Opposition front bench.
The Rt. Hon. Stuart Andrew MP is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Daventry in Northamptonshire. He currently serves as the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, in the Opposition Shadow Cabinet of Kemi Badenoch. First elected in 2010, Andrew has served in a number of Government roles, including in the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice. Following the appointment of Liz Truss as Prime Minister, he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Media, Civil Society & Youth within the Department of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), a brief he was charged with until the dissolution of Parliament prior to the 2024 General Election.
With the Conservatives now in Opposition, Andrew served as Opposition Chief Whip under the outgoing leader and former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, until Kemi Badenoch won the Conservative leadership ballot, and appointed him Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport. Born in Anglesey in North Wales, Andrew was a fundraiser, as well as a borough councillor before entering Parliament.
With Parliament’s Shadow portfolios discussed much less than their governmental counterparts, I began by asking Stuart Andrew what his role involves, and what the key differences are between a Governmental and Opposition portfolio. “I mean, the reality is, it’s similar, but it’s very different at the same time […] as the Shadow Secretary of State, I cover the whole brief, so that includes media, tourism, historic sites, all sorts of other things as well, so it’s trying to learn, or keep up-to-date with what I was doing anyway, but then actually learn a whole host of other things”.
“My job is now to hold the government to account, to make sure that the promises they’ve made are being delivered, and then to scrutinise some of the decisions that are being made […] to just ask the questions that perhaps they hadn’t given some thought to”. Andrew also spoke to the need to engage directly with sectors in his brief and understand their concerns, such as the rise in Employer’s National Insurance contributions that is reported to be of concern to many charity bodies.
Andrew also spoke passionately about why it is that he enjoys this brief so much, particularly compared to other Shadow portfolios: “You also get the opportunity to see some of the amazing things that go on in this country, whether it’s charities delivering services on the ground, to some of the best art and productions that you can see anywhere in the world, and particularly the creative industries. I think this country has a real opportunity to be a world leader in that.”
Turning to Andrew’s Shadow Ministerial team, I then asked the Shadow Secretary how the transition had been from Government to Opposition, particularly as the only MP from the governmental team still in the department. “It’s very different, I mean not least getting used to sitting on the other side of the chamber! But also, when you’re in Government, you do have a host of civil servants to help you that will prepare the briefing notes, the research work, whereas a lot of that we have to do ourselves. And we do have support from our central office and our research departments, and our individual team members like Stacy [Andrew’s Office Manager], getting us the information that we need, but it is a big transition”.
With his new ministerial team in the form of Saqib Bhatti (Conservative, Meriden & Solihull East) and Louie French (Conservative, Old Bexley & Sidcup), I asked whether his team were ready to face the new Keir Starmer Cabinet team, particularly as neither have prior experience within DCMS. “Continuity is equally important, but actually both Saqib and Louie bring personal experiences as well, so Louie’s a massive sports fan and big horseracing fan as well, so having someone who has that sort of personal knowledge and day-to-day understanding of the issues that may be being faced is really helpful”.
“And Saqib has spent time as a minister in DSIT [Department of Science, Innovation & Technology], so obviously things like AI and how AI may affect music and the creative industries, having his knowledge of that I think really has helped us […] and we’re also fortunate in that Steven Parkinson is still a part of the team, he’s the Lords Spokesman. Steven has a huge knowledge of the theatre and the arts sectors, so having that continuity has been helpful”.
Turning to the issues of the day, I then wanted to ask what the Shadow Culture Secretary’s thoughts were on the current Government’s approach to Culture, Media & Sport so far, and whether the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy (Labour, Wigan) in particular was living up to the brief. “I get on extremely well, actually, with Lisa Nandy and with [DCMS Minister] Stephanie Peacock (Labour, Barnsley South), and actually I worked quite constructively with them when I was in Government, and to be fair, they’re doing the same thing with me. I will though challenge where I don’t think they’re going far enough’.
“For example, the National Insurance thing, I don’t think that they’ve fully understood the impact, across all the sectors within DCMS, and the amount of money that is going to need to be found […] they reckon £50-60 million worth will be taken from frontline services”. But Andrew is also prepared to praise Government work, “where I think that they’re doing a good job or where I think they’ve made an announcement that has potential, we will welcome that. So the Youth Strategy for example that they’ve announced is good, but even since announcement to where we are today, my understanding is that the scope is narrowing, so I want to understand why”.
But given Andrew’s service in various governmental roles since 2018, I wanted to challenge him on a point made in our recent interview with the Chair of the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee, the Rt. Hon. Dame Caroline Dinenage MP (Conservative, Gosport), who told us “on every criteria that matters, the Culture, Media & Sport sectors have something vital to offer our nation […] but successive leaders have undervalued their importance” – what was the new Shadow Culture Secretary’s view?
“I think she makes a really valid point. But I do understand, lets be honest, that if you’re Prime Minister, and you’re dealing with international events like Ukraine and Israel, you’ve got migration issues to sort out, I can understand how sometimes, it’s not that it’s forgotten, but it may not seem it gets the same attention, but from that perspective I sort of understand how it happens. However, I think Caroline is right that actually, it is probably the one department that has a reach to the entire population”.
“It is a small department but its reach is enormous, and so I do think that it needs to play a pivotal role because there are so many opportunities […] Our arts and our theatres, particularly, since Covid have recovered incredibly well, still major challenges but have recovered really well compared to, say, Broadway, who are still struggling. And I know the theatre world want theatre to succeed all over the world, of course, but if there is an opportunity for this country, then it will help us long-term economically as well”.
Having suggested a better understanding of how payments from DCMS to other bodies such as Arts Council England are structured, I pushed further on what Andrew hopes to achieve in his role and the Shadow Cabinet before the next election, to which there was only one place to begin: “So I think it’s a number of stages. The reality is, look, as a party we have to rebuild trust, we have to show that we’ve listened to what the electorate have said, acknowledge where we made mistakes, but also defend where we did things right”, describing the measures taken to protect and restore access to theatres and sporting facilities.
“I think at the moment, for me, this period is about engaging with each of those sectors, listening to what are the difficulties that they’re facing, and then for us to take our time to come up with solutions to some of those challenges that we know we can deliver. It’s not about making rash promises, people are sick of that […] I want to make sure that every sector within DCMS knows that at the next election, we have taken our time to first of all listen to what their concerns are, and then to say which one of those we’re going to try to address”.
Andrew will always have a place in British history, being the minister charged with organising the Coronation of King Charles III in May 2023, appointed to the ‘Ceremonials’ brief on the same day the Late Queen Elizabeth II passed away. “That was one of the big challenges because I was also the minister for the Eurovision Song Contest, because we’d committed to hosting that on behalf of Ukraine who sadly couldn’t. So I suddenly realised: ‘I’ve got six months to be a part of two of the biggest events that this country was going to host that year, the Coronation being something that clearly hadn’t been done for 70 years!”
“I can remember walking round the Abbey with all of the people who were involved, the organisers and Westminster Abbey staff, and saying “there’s all this space up here”, and them saying “yeah, but they won’t be able to see anything”. I said “it doesn’t matter, people will just love the fact that they were at the Coronation […] But it was also what did the Palace want, what did the King want, it is a different era. He wanted, obviously, to make sure that the traditions of a Coronation remained, but actually that it reflected, culturally, the U.K. as it is today, and a lot of this was the decision of the Palace”.
But Andrew also acknowledges the immense work by teams across the country that brought the ceremony together: “Thanks to an enormous amount of work by so many people, and particularly the team at DCMS – they worked their socks off, they really did – it was a great partnership between all the different levels of authority, and the Palace, that brought about a very special event that this nation’s not seen for well over half a century”. Having gone immediately from the Coronation to managing Eurovision, Andrew “often joked that I’d spent one weekend surrounded by diamonds and the following weekend surrounded by sequins!”
Whilst the Shadow Culture Secretary has been concerned principally with issues in the arts for several years now, there is another issue, close to my heart, that Stuart Andrew has become known for in recent years – LGBTQ+ rights. A supporter of a Trans-inclusive Conversion Therapy ban, and having spoken powerfully a decade ago about his own experiences of homophobia in Parliament during the Equal Marriage debate, I wanted to ask where he sees the debate now, and where he thinks it may be heading in the near future.
I have seen a transition in this country in its attitudes towards particularly gay and lesbian people, and bisexuals, that is just a world away from where it was. I grew up knowing that I was gay, but it didn’t really help where I was growing up because it was a very traditional area […] but also social attitudes more generally were very much not very inclusive. To a stage where suddenly, equal age of consent […] and to see that change first, then see Civil Partnerships, then see Equal Marriage, but in between all that, people being able to adopt, and just so many significant changes, it has been amazing to watch”.
“I think when debates get heated, we sometimes forget where we’ve come from, and I think it’s important to remember that because there are so many LGBT people around the world who would literally give their right arm for some of the freedoms that we have, and the acceptability of it. And the Equal Marriage debate, for me, was one of the challenging ones. I got a lot of emails, and so did many MPs, from people who were so against the idea, and I remember saying to a number of colleagues, “the minute we pass this legislation, the question won’t be ‘Oh God the sky’s going to fall in’, the question will be ‘when am I going to get to go to my first gay wedding?’!”
But when reflecting on the world of today, Andrew’s tone changed and joyful demeanour evaporated instantly: “I do get concerned about the tone of the debate. I don’t think there’s anything wrong in having the debate, and there are difficult issues that do need addressing, and there are people whose rights you also need to protect as well […] It’s not an easy issue to address, but we can find solutions to these issues, we can show inclusivity, but we can do it, surely, in a respectful way, and I think, frankly, particularly on the Trans debate, there are some on both sides, on the extreme sides, who have made it quite toxic. And actually, what we need to do is have that grown-up debate […] Let’s get to the mindset of finding practical solutions that allow people to live their lives as they wish, safely, that ensures that everybody feels that their rights are being protected too”.
I also wanted to raise his decision at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022 to wear the OneLove rainbow armband, an action which had been threatened would have impacts on the English and Welsh football teams had they done the same. Why was it that Andrew decided to take the step and wear it himself? – “I remember one of the first things I did was meet with LGBT football fans to talk about what does this mean to them that the World Cup was being held in Qatar, and a number of them said that they just felt that they couldn’t go […] one of them actually broke down in tears and said “I’m just gutted because it’ll be the first World Cup I’ve not gone to”.
“When FIFA banned it, and let’s be clear, it was FIFA not Qatar, when FIFA banned the armband and put that pressure on our football teams, I thought that was unfair […] I know people criticised the football team, but that’s not their fault, because had they worn it, then they may have been given points against them”. But it was at this point that Andrew, in Qatar in his capacity as Sports Minister, realised: “Well, hang on a minute, there is one person who can wear it, who won’t get any points deducted”.
“I met with the Qatari Ambassador before I went out there to seek reassurances that anybody who is LGBT who went over there would be safe [and] in all fairness to the Qataris, I think they did actually try their best, but asking people to respect their laws. Now, I have a different opinion about those laws, of course I do, but for me, I was wearing that armband for those fans, those LGBT fans, that I met in my office who felt they couldn’t go, and it was for them that I did that”.
And it was one moment in particular that Andrew remembers vividly, which occurred moments after rising to sing the national anthem at the beginning of the match: “Quite a lot of people in the stadium were staring […] But I was glad I did it, and the response when I got back here was just incredible, in fact even before I got back here. My phone was going, MPs in this building, because we were sitting, and they’d all seen it on the television, and they were all texting me saying how proud they were that I’d done it, so I think it was one of the best things I ever did, really.
I ended our discussion with one final question, asking the Shadow Secretary what his advice is to anyone seeking a career in Parliament or in culture and the arts, to which he was clear: “My first advice is follow your dream. Honestly. Sometimes you think,
“I’d love to do that, but I haven’t got a hope in hell”. I used to think that. I loved politics, I don’t know why, I don’t know where it came from, my parents aren’t particularly political, but I just had this real interest in politics, and I thought “one day, I’d love to be an MP”. But I grew up on a council estate, I didn’t go to university, I’d come from a very working-class family, and I thought I’d never be able to do it. But through the encouragement of family, friends and loved ones, I kept going, and here I am. I’ve been able to sit in this amazing building for the last 14 years, I’ve loved every minute of it”.
“I see Labour MPs, Liberal MPs, Scots Nationalist MPs, Plaid Cymru MPs everyday trying to do the best for them and their constituents and for the whole country, and we do need people to do that. So if you’re interested in being an MP, then go for it. If you’re interested in doing some work within any of the sectors in DCMS, then do it because if that’s your passion, you work a lot of years in your life, if every morning you get up and you’re actually excited about going to work, then that’s a much better life than thinking “what if?”
Stuart Andrew MP was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport on November 5th 2024. All members of the Shadow Cabinet, & Shadow Culture, Media & Sport team are available here
