IPA Director General Paul Bainsfair hopes the appointment of Lucy Frazer MP as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will be 'a passing of the baton from the hope and promise' of Michelle Donelan MP's short tenure.
The revolving door of Culture Ministers continues unabated. If anything, it appears to be speeding up, after just five months this time.
"We very much hope the Rt Hon Lucy Frazer MP’s appointment as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, will be a passing of the baton from the hope and promise provided by the Rt Hon Michelle Donelan MP during her short tenure. A self-proclaimed ally of our business, Michelle understood the power, prowess and value of our industry, and the need – as she said in her own words – 'to protect the things that make this country great, and our world-renowned creative industries are right up there at the top of the list.' Crucially, her words were backed up by action, most notably in her wise counsel to the prime minister not to proceed with the sale to Channel 4."
"In this vein, we look forward to working with Lucy Frazer and her colleagues, and to understanding further detail on how the splitting up of the Government’s BEIS and DCMS departments into four new portfolios – the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology; the combined Department for Business and Trade; and the re-focused Department for Culture, Media and Sport - will affect the different areas of our business. So far, we understand that the Online Safety Bill will continue under the remit of Michelle Donelan in her new role of Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, although we are yet to find out whether this will also include the Online Advertising Programme. With advertising playing a fundamental part in the UK’s culture and media, as well as trade (UK and international) and business, our agencies will no doubt have their feet in several of these new camps."