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Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

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Secretary of State
for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
Official portrait of Rt Hon Oliver Dowden MP.jpg
Incumbent
Oliver Dowden

since 13 February 2020
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
StyleCulture Secretary
(informal)
The Right Honourable
(within the UK and the Commonwealth)
StatusSecretary of state
Minister of the Crown
AppointerThe Monarch
on advice of the Prime Minister
Formation11 April 1992
First holderDavid Mellor
Websitewww.culture.gov.uk

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, also referred to as the Culture Secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.[1] The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, 21st in the ministerial ranking.[2] The office has been dubbed "Minister of Fun".[3]

On 13 February 2020, Boris Johnson appointed Oliver Dowden to the office.[1]

Responsibilities[edit]

The secretary has overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.[1] Responsibilities include:[1]

  • Arts and Culture
  • Broadcasting
  • Creative industries
  • Creative Industries Council
  • Cultural property, heritage and the historic environment
  • Cultural Renewal Taskforce
  • Culture, sports and arts sector recovery from COVID-19
  • Gambling and racing
  • Libraries
  • Media ownership and mergers
  • Museums and galleries
  • The National Lottery
  • Sport
  • Telecommunications and online
  • Tourism

History[edit]

The office was created in 1992 by Prime Minister John Major, as Secretary of State for National Heritage.[4] In his autobiography, Major says that, before the office was created, responsibility for cultural interests was shared among various departments, but important to none of them.[5] For instance, arts and libraries, although a separate department, had no minister in the Cabinet, sport was part of the Department for Education, film was part of the Department of Trade and Industry, broadcasting was part of the Home Office, tourism was part of the Department for Employment and heritage was part of the Department of the Environment.[5] He also wrote that the system tended to favour the interests of the articulate and well-connected London-based arts lobby.[5]

Thus, when he became Prime Minister, Major said that he saw that the only way to give culture and sport the higher profile that he thought that they deserved was to establish a new department, under a minister of Cabinet rank, to bring together all aspects of the arts, sport and heritage.[6]

List of Secretaries of State[edit]

Secretaries of State for National Heritage (1992–1997)[edit]

Secretary of State for National Heritage
Portrait Name Term of office Party Prime Minister
No image.svg David Mellor
MP for Putney
11 April 1992 22 September 1992 Conservative John Major
No image.svg Peter Brooke
MP for Cities of London and Westminster
25 September 1992 20 July 1994 Conservative
Stephen dorrell mp -nhs confederation annual conferencepercent2c manchester-11july2011 - crop.jpg Stephen Dorrell
MP for Loughborough
20 July 1994 5 July 1995 Conservative
Official portrait of Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone crop 2.jpg Virginia Bottomley
MP for South West Surrey
5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative
Official portrait of Lord Smith of Finsbury, 2020.jpg Chris Smith
MP for Islington South and Finsbury
2 May 1997 22 July 1997 Labour Tony Blair

Secretaries of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1997–2010)[edit]

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Portrait Name Term of office Party Prime Minister
Official portrait of Lord Smith of Finsbury, 2020.jpg Chris Smith
MP for Islington South and Finsbury
22 July 1997 8 June 2001 Labour Tony Blair
Tessa Jowell.jpg Tessa Jowell
MP for Dulwich and West Norwood
8 June 2001 27 June 2007 Labour
James Purnell Ministerial portrait.jpg James Purnell
MP for Stalybridge and Hyde
28 June 2007 24 January 2008 Labour Gordon Brown
Andy Burnham2.jpg Andy Burnham
MP for Leigh
24 January 2008 5 June 2009 Labour
Official portrait of Mr Ben Bradshaw crop 2.jpg Ben Bradshaw
MP for Exeter
5 June 2009 11 May 2010 Labour

Secretaries of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (2010–2012)[edit]

Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport
Portrait Name Term of office Party Prime Minister
Official portrait of Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP crop 2.jpg Jeremy Hunt
MP for South West Surrey
12 May 2010 4 September 2012 Conservative David Cameron
(I)

Secretaries of State for Culture, Media and Sport (2012–2017)[edit]

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Portrait Name Term of office Party Prime Minister
Official portrait of Rt Hon Maria Miller MP crop 2.jpg Maria Miller
MP for Basingstoke
4 September 2012 9 April 2014 Conservative David Cameron
(I)
Official portrait of Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP crop 2.jpg Sajid Javid
MP for Bromsgrove
9 April 2014 11 May 2015 Conservative
Official portrait of Mr John Whittingdale crop 2.jpg John Whittingdale
MP for Maldon
11 May 2015 14 July 2016 Conservative David Cameron
(II)
Official portrait of Karen Bradley crop 2.jpg Karen Bradley
MP for Staffordshire Moorlands
14 July 2016 3 July 2017 Conservative Theresa May
(I)

Secretaries of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2017–present)[edit]

In 2017 the DCMS was renamed to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in acknowledgement of the increasing responsibility the department had gained for Digital affairs.[7] Karen Bradley continued as Secretary of State for the department.

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Portrait Name Term of office Party Prime Minister
Official portrait of Karen Bradley crop 2.jpg Karen Bradley
MP for Staffordshire Moorlands
3 July 2017 8 January 2018 Conservative Theresa May
(II)
Official portrait of Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP crop 2.jpg Matt Hancock
MP for West Suffolk
8 January
2018
8 July
2018
Conservative
Jeremy Wright MP.jpg Jeremy Wright
MP for Kenilworth and Southam
9 July 2018 24 July 2019 Conservative
Official portrait of Baroness Morgan of Cotes crop 2.jpg The Baroness Morgan of Cotes
MP for Loughborough
(until 2019)
24 July 2019 13 February 2020 Conservative Boris Johnson
Official portrait of Rt Hon Oliver Dowden MP crop 2.jpg Oliver Dowden
MP for Hertsmere
13 February 2020 Incumbent Conservative

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Her Majesty's Government: The Cabinet". parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Interview: David Mellor - A more mellow fellow? Mellor's not for". The Independent. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  4. ^ The Transfer of Functions (National Heritage) Order 1992.
  5. ^ a b c Major, John (1999). John Major: The Autobiography. HarperCollins Publishers. p. 404. ISBN 0-06-019614-9. OCLC 42751073.
  6. ^ Major, John (1999). John Major: The Autobiography. HarperCollins Publishers. p. 405. ISBN 0-06-019614-9. OCLC 42751073.
  7. ^ "Change of name for DCMS". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 November 2017.

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