Frazer becomes Culture Secretary amid DCMS break-up

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has appointed Lucy Frazer as Secretary of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of a reshuffle that involves the creation of four new government departments.

The move sees the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) broken up, with outgoing Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan moving to the newly-formed Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Frazer, Conservative MP for South East Cambridgeshire since 2015, is set to become the eleventh Secretary of State to oversee cultural policymaking in the last 11 years. Donelan spent 154 days as Culture Secretary, the shortest stint of any of them.

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Frazer has held several ministerial positions since 2019, but her new role will be the first time she sits within a Prime Minister’s Cabinet.

She most recently served as Minister of State for Housing and Planning in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and has also worked within the Ministry for Justice, Department for Transport and the Treasury. This will be her first government role within cultural policy.

Prior to being elected to Parliament, she worked as a barrister in commercial law and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 2013.

Frazer tweeted she was “absolutely delighted” to be appointed Secretary of State: “Such a critical department in Whitehall, and the home of some of the most exciting and fastest growing parts of the UK economy – so can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Leaders from across the arts and culture sector have welcomed Frazer to her role online, including Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre's co-CEOs Claire Walker and Hannah Essex, who said her first priority should be maintaining the higher rate of Theatre Tax relief in the government's next budget, expected in March.

“This must be followed up by working with the theatre sector to develop a strong UK talent pipeline through investment in the arts premium and the development of the cultural education plan,” Walker and Essex added.

A ‘re-focused’ department

The reorganisation of government departments means Frazer will have a reduced remit compared to her more recent predecessors, having lost responsibility for digital policy.

The department is reverting back to its former title, having being known as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport between 2012 and 2017, until digital was added under Theresa May’s leadership.

A government statement released today says the changes will lead to a “re-focused” department that will “focus on importance of culture, media and sport to the economy and build on UK’s position as a global leader in the creative arts”.

Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted it is “sad” to break up DCMS “because it works”.

“Department has tragically lacked profile of late despite being most effective in Whitehall. Track record in tech, digital, gigabit roll out, telecoms, data speaks for itself,” she said.

Head of trade union for media and entertainment workers BECTU, Philippa Childs, has said the refocusing of the department must not distract from the sector's pressing challenges.

“The recent revolving door of Culture Minsters has not provided the stability that the sector needs to not only recover post-pandemic but thrive,” she added.

“As the Government moves forward with its re-focused department we note its pledge to recognise how central the creative industries are to a strong UK economy. We hope the new Secretary of State will take seriously the mandate to build on the UK’s global reputation in the creative arts.”

Culture Secretaries since 2010

Jeremy Hunt, May 2010 – September 2012
Maria Miller, September 2012 – April 2014
Sajid Javid, April 2014 – May 2015
John Whittingdale, May 2015 – July 2016
Karen Bradley, July 2016 – January 2018
Matt Hancock, January 2018 – July 2018
Jeremy Wright, July 2018 – July 2019
Nicky Morgan, July 2019 – February 2020
Oliver Dowden, February 2020 – September 2021
Nadine Dorries, September 2021 – September 2022
Michelle Donelan, September 2022 – February 2023
Lucy Frazer, February 2023 – present