What will the next Prime Minister mean for the arts?

Either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will become Prime Minister on September 5.

As senior cabinet ministers in Boris Johnson’s government, both the current Foreign Secretary Truss, and Sunak, Chancellor until his recent resignation, have voting records in lockstep with the current Conservative agenda. 

This suggests little will change when either moves into 10 Downing Street, but a closer a look at some of the pressing issues facing the sector uncovers some differences between the two. 

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Neither has spoken specifically about arts and culture in their leadership campaigns, but there are clues to their cultural interests in interviews they have given.

To GB News, Truss revealed a love for 1980s music and karaoke, while Sunak told the Sunday Times he has an "eclectic” taste in music and gave up a ticket to Coachella when he became Chancellor.  

Truss’ political career has rarely crossed paths with the arts, unlike Sunak’s, who became a very familiar figure to the sector during his stint as Chancellor dealing with the pandemic.

His spending decisions left some celebrating, while others were left in the cold. Last year’s October budget saw DCMS receive a £600m boost but a 270m arts education premium disappear.

Others struggled with unworkable tax plans and there was outcry at the omission of freelance workers from his support and recovery package. Sunak also signed off on the live events sector's reinsurance scheme, which ultimately saw little uptake.

Sunak, who received a backlash for comments on cultural sector workers retraining at the time of a controversial advertising campaign, is since on record as having “unbelievable admiration” for arts workers’ tenacity.

If Truss is elected Prime Minister, her pledges include bringing in an emergency budget, reversing the National Insurance rise introduced by Sunak and leaving corporation tax untouched.

The pair clashed in their first head-to-head TV debate, with Sunak telling Truss her plans would “tip millions of people into misery,” while Truss told Sunak his tax rises would lead to a recession.

But both are on the same page when it comes to levelling up, having signed pledges made by the Northern Research Group of 50 Northern Tory MPs.

Their shared commitment to prioritising the levelling up agenda points to the continuation of funding aimed specifically at priority areas, the continued use of classifications such as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities' Levelling-Up for Culture Places and the redistribution of funding outside of London.

Broadcasters in the balance

Regardless of who wins the premiership, the government is likely to push ahead with the privatisation of Channel 4 when parliament returns in autumn.

Last week, Sunak publicly declared his intention to press ahead with the plan. A spokesperson for his campaign told the Guardian “privatisation will help Channel 4 to thrive in an age where they are also competing with Netflix, Amazon, Apple and many more – standing still is not an option.”

Head of BECTU Philippa Childs called the announcement “incredibly disappointing news”. “Make no mistake, privatisation will have major consequences for the UK broadcasting landscape, for the jobs of UK freelancers and for the UK’s creative economy,” she said.

Truss has not spoken publicly about privatisation, but several sources have reported she privately supports it.

Margaret Thatcher founded the channel as a publicly-owned institution in the 1980s. As Truss models herself closely on the first female Tory Prime Minister, it will be interesting to see if she will make this fundamental change to its operationing model.

Also in the autumn, a government review into the future of the BBC licence fee will begin. Originally scheduled before parliament’s summer break, the review has suffered repeated delays, with a Chair yet to be appointed.

Truss is said to have privately supported Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries when she first tabled plans to abolish the fee. Sunak has backed the inquiry, but it is unclear whether or not he supports the abolition of the licence fee.

“The BBC is an institution which everyone agrees needs reform. But getting rid of the licence fee and just replacing it with another tax makes no sense,” his campaign team told The Times.

What next for DCMS?

The most direct and immediate impact a new Prime Minister will have on the arts sector will be reflected in the appointment of any new DCMS ministers.

The new Prime Minister’s first task will be a cabinet reshuffle, which begs the question whether Nadine Dorries will remain in post as Culture Secretary.

Dorries was one of the first, and most high-profile, names to back Truss, calling her “probably a stronger Brexiteer” than both herself and Jacob Rees-Mogg (despite Truss having originally voted to remain).

Dorries’ vocal support of Truss throughout the leadership campaign, compared to her online critiques of Sunak’s campaign, would suggest she is more likely to retain her position if Truss becomes Prime Minister.

Earlier this week, the Mirror reported Dorries is “pretty confident” she will return to her position if Truss, who is the bookie’s favourite, wins the race.

If a new Culture Secretary is appointed in September, it would be the seventh appointee since DCMS changed its name in 2017 to include 'digital', and the eleventh in the last decade. 

Whoever is Culture Secretary in September, their stance on the broader 'culture wars' may be the earliest indication of what the new administration envisages for the sector.