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, which operates mainly in England. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office has been dubbed "Minister of Fun".
Responsibilities The secretary has overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its responsibilities in England, and some UK-wide, include: 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 Tourism
History The office was created in 1992 by Prime Minister John Major, as Secretary of State for National Heritage.The Transfer of Functions (National Heritage) Order 1992. 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. 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. He also wrote that the system tended to favour the interests of the articulate and well-connected London-based arts lobby.
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.
List of secretaries of state Secretary of State for National Heritage (1992–1997) Secretary of State Term of office Party Prime Minister David Mellor 11 April 1992 22 September 1992 ConservativeJohn Major Peter Brooke 25 September 1992 20 July 1994 Conservative Stephen Dorrell 20 July 1994 5 July 1995 Conservative Virginia Bottomley 5 July 1995 2 May 1997 Conservative Chris Smith 2 May 1997 22 July 1997 Labour Tony Blair
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1997–2010) Secretary of State Term of office Party Prime Minister Chris Smith 22 July 1997 8 June 2001 Labour Tony Blair Tessa Jowell 8 June 2001 28 June 2007 Labour James Purnell 28 June 2007 24 January 2008 LabourGordon Brown Andy Burnham 24 January 2008 5 June 2009 Labour Ben Bradshaw 5 June 2009 11 May 2010 Labour
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (2010 - 2012) Secretary of State Term of office Party Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt 12 May 2010 4 September 2012 Conservative David Cameron
Secretaries of State for Culture, Media and Sport (2012–2017) Secretary of State Term of office Party Prime Minister Maria Miller 4 September 2012 9 April 2014 ConservativeDavid Cameron Sajid Javid 9 April 2014 11 May 2015 Conservative John Whittingdale 11 May 2015 14 July 2016 Conservative Karen Bradley 14 July 2016 3 July 2017 ConservativeTheresa May 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. Karen Bradley continued as Secretary of State for the department.
Secretaries of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2017–2023) Secretary of State Term of office Party Prime Minister Karen Bradley 3 July 2017 8 January 2018 Conservative Theresa May Matt Hancock 8 January 2018 8 July 2018 Conservative Jeremy Wright 9 July 2018 24 July 2019 Conservative Nicky Morgan 24 July 2019 13 February 2020 Conservative Boris Johnson Oliver Dowden 13 February 2020 15 September 2021 Conservative Nadine Dorries 15 September 2021 6 September 2022 Conservative Michelle Donelan 6 September 2022 7 February 2023 Conservative Liz Truss Rishi Sunak
Secretaries of State for Culture, Media and Sport (2023–2026)
Secretary of State Term of office Party Prime Minister Lucy Frazer 7 February 2023 5 July 2024 Conservative Rishi Sunak Lisa Nandy 5 July 2024 20 July 2026 Labour Keir Starmer Secretaries of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2026–present) Secretary of State Term of office Party Prime Minister Lisa Nandy 20 July 2026 Incumbent Labour Andy Burnham
Timeline of secretaries of state
See also Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Culture, Media and Sport Committee
References