Cultural Industries brief for former Shadow Culture Secretary Tracy Brabin

Just days after publishing a scathing critique of systemic failures affecting the cultural sector and a wide-ranging vision for the role of culture in Labour policy, Tracy Brabin MP has lost her position as Shadow Culture Secretary. She has been replaced by lawyer Jo Stevens, MP for Cardiff Central, but will continue as a member of the shadow DCMS team in the role of Shadow Minister for Cultural Industries. 

Brabin’s paper, Culture for All, sets out to confront “the perception, and the reality” that arts, culture and creativity are middle class pastimes with too great a focus on London and the South East. “I’m adamant that must change”, she said.

Paradox

In the paper Brabin highlights the paradox that the sector is a national and international success story, but “communities outside the big cities have not reaped the benefits” and too many people in the creative industries face chronic job insecurity and lack basic rights such as sick pay, maternity pay, and pensions. She said: “I know first-hand that work in the cultural and creative industries is far too often based on who you know, rather than your talent.”

Her 14-point plan for ‘Changing Lives through Culture and Creativity’ talks of using a £1bn Culture Capital Fund to improve communities; making t-levels and the apprenticeship levy fit for purpose in the creative industries; embedding the arts in schools; putting more digital cultural content online; and protecting universal free admission to national and regional museums and galleries.

It also proposes polling the public to understand more about the favourite cultural and creative activities of “voting groups that we are hoping to vote Labour at the next election”, with a particular focus on towns, pensioners and men aged 45-65.

READ MORE:

• 'Don't wash your hands of us': Creative sector demands more support
• Jo Stevens joins Shadow Cabinet

Concerns

Brabin has recently been drawing attention to the severe impact of the coronavirus pandemic on freeleance and self-employed workers and spoken of being “deeply concerned” that the crisis will drive out a generation of working-class talent from sector. “We cannot let the next generation of Stormzys and Maxine Peakes go undiscovered. It is my absolutely top priority to ensure that cannot be allowed to happen”

She has been among those lobbying the Chancellor to divert the £120m allocated for the 2022 Festival of Britain to a targeted relief fund.

Brabin became Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen in 2016 following the murder of Jo Cox MP. She is one of few politicians with a background in the arts, having spent 30 years in the creative industries as an actor and television writer before entering parliament. Appointed as Shadow Culture Secretary by Jeremy Corbyn in January 2020, succeeding Deputy Labour Leader Tom Watson, she has been a vocal supporter of the creative and cultural sectors. She has campaigned for shared parental leave for freelance workers and in 2019 became a Vice Chair of the Creative Diversity All Party Parliamentary Group, chaired by former Arts Minister Ed Vaizey.

Commenting on her changing role she tweeted: “It has been a privilege to be in the shadow cabinet and proud of the work our team did on holding government to account on Huawei as well as supporting the sectors and self employed people during the covid-19 crisis”… "Delighted to join shadow #DCMS team in Cultural Industries brief to continue support #freelancers & #creativeindustries".