19.03.2024

Jeremy Wright named as fourth culture secretary in two years

Jeremy Wright: new DCMS secretary is a qualified barrister. Last night Hancock was appointed health secretary, taking over from Jeremy Hunt, who was made foreign secretary after the resignation of Boris Johnson.

Jeremy Wright: new DCMS secretary is a qualified barrister

Prime Minister Theresa May’s government was thrown into a state of crisis yesterday by the resignations of Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davis.

Jeremy Wright, who campaigned for the UK to remain in the European Union in 2016, arrives at the DCMS after four years as attorney general, the chief legal adviser to the government.

A qualified barrister, he first entered Parliament in 2005 and is MP for the West Midlands seat of Kenilworth and Southam. He also set up the all-party parliamentary group on dementia and chaired it until 2010.

Unlike Hancock, he is not a habitual social media user and has not tweeted since April 2015.

However, he will need to get up to speed quickly with matters currently in the DCMS in-tray, including the acquisition of Sky by Fox, Channel 4’s partial move to the regions, and an independent review into the future of high-quality journalism.

On this day in 2016, the culture secretary was John Whittingdale. He was despatched shortly afterwards by May in her first reshuffle after becoming Prime Minister in the wake of the Brexit referendum.

Whittingdale’s successor Karen Bradley moved on after 18 months in January this year and was succeeded by Hancock, who was promoted from digital minister.

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