Chris Bryant smiles in front of a grey background

Chris Bryant will work alongside new Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy at DCMS

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Bryant becomes DCMS Minister of State

Former Shadow Minister for Creative Industries and Digital Chris Bryant will join DCMS alongside new Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

Mary Stone
2 min read

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has named Chris Bryant Minister of State in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Technology and Innovation. He will work alongside new Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who was handed the culture brief after Thangam Debbonaire lost her seat.

The MP for Rhondda and Ogmore in South Wales since 2001, for the last 10 months, Bryant has served as Shadow Minister for Creative Industries and Digital and represented Labour at several creative hustings in the lead-up to the election, in which he promised his party will review “the whole package” of arts funding and was critical of the lack of access to arts education in schools.

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During his tenure as Shadow Minister for the Arts from December 2014 to September 2015, under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Bryant became involved in a dispute with the musician James Blunt after naming the singer in reference to a lack of diversity and prevalence of the privately educated in arts.

After being appointed Shadow Leader of the House of Commons in 2015, Bryant later resigned from the position following the Brexit vote, accusing Corbyn of contributing to the leave result by not providing “a clear, unambiguous message to Labour voters”.

Under Gordon Brown, Bryant held roles as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Europe. In opposition he also served as Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.

Bryant studied English at Mansfield College, Oxford, and became a priest in the Church of England before leaving the ministry in 1991. Prior to joining parliament, he ran the educational charity Common Purpose and was Head of European Affairs at the BBC. He also authored several books.

Posting on X about his appointment, Bryant said: “Absolutely delighted. So much to do.”

The Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, said she was “delighted” to welcome Bryant to her team: “Chris brings the wealth of experience, expertise and passion we need to ensure the UK’s incredible creative and cultural sectors can flourish.”