The Parliamentary Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee has seen its first new member since its reformation after the 2024 General Election.
One of the two Conservative members of the group, new Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and Shadow Minister for Women Mims Davies (Conservative, East Grinstead and Uckfield) has been replaced by Damian Hinds (Conservative, East Hampshire) following her appointment to the Shadow Cabinet of Kemi Badenoch.
Holding two seats on the Select Committee, the other held by Chair Dame Caroline Dinenage (Conservative, Gosport), the Conservatives were forced to replace Davies following her appointments, as a sitting Select Committee member cannot also hold a frontbench portfolio.
With seats on Select Committees proportionally representative to a party’s position within the wider House of Commons, the Conservative Party would have held their second seat regardless, necessitating this evening’s substitution.
For Davies’ replacement Damian Hinds, this isn’t his first period sitting on the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee, having spent a period as a member between March 2020 and October 2021.
As well as his previous time as a member of the panel, Hinds also has a range of previous ministerial experience, including as former Secretary of State for Education under Prime Minister Theresa May, Exchequer Secretary under David Cameron and Justice Minister under Rishi Sunak.
He also held the portfolio of Shadow Secretary of State for Education following the summer’s General Election, before not gaining a new role in Kemi Badenoch’s Shadow administration.
Hinds’ most notable contribution to public life came during his time as Secretary of State for Education, during which time he introduced first aid and CPR courses to school curricula, from ages five and eleven, respectively.
He will join the existing committee members, comprised of seven Labour, two Conservative and two Liberal Democrat MPs, currently in place, whom have already set out on several enquiries since their formation, including grassroots, community and school sports, and the future of the BBC World Service.
The Culture, Media & Sport Committee’s similar work during the last Parliament has also recently been adopted by the government, seeking to implement a voluntary levy on larger venues to support grassroots sites, at a time when venues are disappearing at a rapid rate.
Damian Hinds’ appointment may be the first of such substitutions in this Parliament to the Culture, Media & Sport Committee, but marks the continuation of representation by those with previous culture experience at the highest levels of cultural decision-making.
As the committee settles into its work with its newest member, only time will tell whether his previous experience will be useful in the committee’s current and upcoming enquiries, and what Hinds will bring to the Culture Committee’s team.
All members of the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee are available here
