Truss appoints Donelan Culture Secretary

Michelle Donelan has been announced as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss's first cabinet.

The appointment follows the resignation of Nadine Dorries yesterday (Tuesday) despite Truss asking her to stay in the postition.

It is Donelan's second role as Secretary of State having previously been made Education Secretary by Boris Johnson. However, she resigned just two days later in protest at his leadership, making it the shortest tenure as a Secretary of State in British political history.

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She is the 11th appointment to the role of Culture Secretary in the last 10 years. Having been elected to parliament in 2015 as MP for Chippenham, Donelan served on the Education Select Committee for three years.

She then spent a futher three years at the Department of Education (DfE), first as Children and Families Minister, then Minister of State for Universities, before becoming Higher and Further Education Minister attending cabinet in 2021.

Prior to entering parliament Donelan worked in the entertainment industry. She started her career in Australia for Pacific Magazines, before going on to work for The History Channel. She later worked for wrestling franchise WWE as an International Marketing Communications Manager.

Support for arts

Donelan has previously spoken in positive terms about the value of arts while minister at the DfE.

Answering a parliamentary question in September 2021 on steps being taken by government to fund arts subjects in higher education, she said: "The government values arts and creative subjects in higher education.

"Ensuring that there is high-quality provision in a range of subjects is critical in order to build our workforce and support our public services. Provision for higher education in the arts is also intellectually rewarding and culturally enriching for those studying them, and for wider society."

In July of the same year she defended government plans to reduce funding for arts and design courses, pointing to the fact that government had invested £620m between 2016 and 2021 in arts and music education programmes to "ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high-quality education in arts and music".

And in June 2021 she said the House of Commons should "be under no illusion that this government 100% support the arts".

"[This] is why we asked the Office For Students to invest an additional £10m in our world-leading specialist providers, many of which specialise in arts provision, and why we have spent £2bn through the cultural recovery programme, plus furlough and plus VAT and other reliefs — more than any other country."

She has also previously described the BBC licence fee as "an unfair tax" suggesting it should be scrapped.

Launching a petition in 2019 to reverse the BBC decision to charge over 75s the licence fee, she said: "I was outraged by the BBC’s decision to revoke free TV Licences for the over-75s.

“Personally I think the licence fee is an unfair tax and should be scrapped all together but that is a different debate.”

'Reasonable and friendly'

Labour's Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell tweeted: "I’ve previously worked with Michelle [and] found her to be reasonable, informed and friendly. Let’s hope that’s her approach."

And Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Jamie Stone has called on Donelan to concentrate her efforts on dealing with the impact of rising costs. 

"I've written to the new Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, asking her to drop plans to privatise Channel 4 and focus instead on tackling the cost-of-living crisis," he tweeted.

Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, tweeted: "I’m looking forward to working with the new Secretary of State to champion our brilliant artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries who create happier lives every day in villages, towns and cities across England."