Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
The Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, previously Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage, is a post in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet. The Shadow Secretary helps hold the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and junior ministers to account and is the lead spokesperson for his or her party on culture, media and sport issues, including obvious ones, such as art funding, and more unexpected ones, like keeping up the Royal Estate. Should the relevant party take office, the Shadow Secretary would be a likely candidate to become Culture Secretary.
| Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport | |
|---|---|
| Appointer | Leader of the Opposition |
| Inaugural holder | Bryan Gould (Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage) |
| Website | The Shadow Cabinet |
The post became necessary when John Major created the Department of National Heritage in 1992. When the Coalition Government took office, they merged the office of Culture Secretary with that of Minister for the Olympics (Jeremy Hunt had shadowed both roles in Opposition). Labour retained as its Olympics spokesperson Tessa Jowell, who had been Olympics Minister from the inception of the office.
Shadow Secretaries of State for National Heritage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow Secretary | Took office | Left office | Political party | Shadow Cabinet | |
| Bryan Gould MP | 18 July 1992 | 29 September 1992 | Labour | John Smith | |
| Ann Clwyd MP | 29 September 1992 | 21 October 1993 | Labour | ||
| Mo Mowlam MP | 21 October 1993 | 21 July 1994 | Labour | ||
| Chris Smith MP | 21 July 1994 | 19 October 1995 | Labour | Tony Blair | |
| Jack Cunningham MP | 19 October 1995 | 2 May 1997 | Labour | ||
| The Rt Hon Virginia Bottomley MP | 2 May 1997 | 11 June 1997 | Conservative | John Major | |
Shadow Secretaries of State for Culture, Media and Sport | |||||
| Shadow Secretary | Took office | Left office | Political party | Shadow Cabinet | |
| The Rt Hon Francis Maude MP | 11 June 1997 | 1 June 1998 | Conservative | William Hague | |
| Peter Ainsworth MP | 1 June 1998 | 18 September 2001 | Conservative | ||
| Tim Yeo MP | 18 September 2001 | 23 July 2002 | Conservative | Iain Duncan Smith | |
| John Whittingdale OBE MP | 23 July 2002 | 6 November 2003 | Conservative | ||
| Julie Kirkbride MP | 6 November 2003 | 19 June 2004 | Conservative | Michael Howard | |
| John Whittingdale OBE MP | 19 June 2004 | 6 May 2005 | Conservative | ||
| The Rt Hon Theresa May MP | 6 May 2005 | 8 December 2005 | Conservative | ||
| Hugo Swire MP | 8 December 2005 | 2 July 2007 | Conservative | David Cameron | |
| Jeremy Hunt MP | 2 July 2007 | 11 May 2010 | Conservative | ||
| The Rt Hon Ben Bradshaw MP | 11 May 2010 | 8 October 2010 | Labour | Harriet Harman | |
| Ivan Lewis MP | 8 October 2010 | 7 October 2011 | Labour | Ed Miliband | |
| The Rt. Hon. Harriet Harman QC MP | 7 October 2011 | 11 May 2015 | Labour | ||
| Chris Bryant MP | 11 May 2015 | 13 September 2015 | Labour | Harriet Harman | |
| Michael Dugher MP | 13 September 2015 | 5 January 2016 | Labour | Jeremy Corbyn | |
| Maria Eagle MP | 6 January 2016 | 27 June 2016 | Labour | ||
| Kelvin Hopkins MP | 28 June 2016 | 7 October 2016 | Labour | ||
| Tom Watson MP | 7 October 2016 | 3 July 2017 | Labour | ||
Shadow Secretaries of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport | |||||
| Shadow Secretary | Took office | Left office | Political party | Shadow Cabinet | |
| Tom Watson MP | 3 July 2017 | 12 December 2019 | Labour | Jeremy Corbyn | |
| Tracy Brabin MP | 7 January 2020 | 6 April 2020 | Labour | ||
| Jo Stevens MP | 6 April 2020 | Incumbent | Labour | Keir Starmer | |