Shadow Arts Minister to stand down as MP

Labour MP and Shadow Arts Minister BARBARA KEELEY has announced she will stand down at the forthcoming General Election.

Keeley has been an MP since 2005, first for Worsley and then for Worsley and Eccles South since 2010.

She became Shadow Minister for Arts and Civil Society in March 2022 and was appointed Shadow Minister for Music and Tourism in 2023.

In her ministerial roles, she has warned of the impact of the cost of living crisis on theatres, accused the government of stifling children’s creativity and questioned ministers’ commitment to the National Plan for Music Education.

“In my Shadow Culture roles I have battled to support our world-class BBC orchestras, to save the BBC Singers from being axed and on the pressing need to improve music education, which has suffered so much under Conservative governments,” Keeley said in her resignation statement, shared online.