Meet the new culture secretary
In a cabinet reshuffle which has seen half of Theresa May’s cabinet either resign or sacked, new prime minister Boris Johnson has appointed Nicky Morgan as the new secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport.
A former solicitor who was elected MP for Loughborough in 2010, Morgan may already seem better suited to the job than her predecessor Jeremy Wright – if only because her online presence amounts to more than a barren twitter feed.
In a tweet following the news of her appointment, Morgan said it was “an enormous privilege to take on this fabulous role”.
The move sees her leave her current position as chair of the influential Treasury select committee, which Morgan won over rival Jacob Rees-Mogg in 2017. She was elected to the position by MPs across all parties, gaining support from Labour backbenchers for her soft-Brexit positioning.
Morgan has been one of the most prominent voices in the soft-Brexit camp of the Conservative party, having campaigned to remain in the EU during the 2016 referendum. According to views outlined on her website, she is firmly opposed to a no-deal Brexit, as it would “severely impact on the economy, employers and the finances of households across the country.”
So taking a role in Johnson’s cabinet marks somewhat of a change of heart for Morgan, who declared less than a year ago that she would refuse to serve under his leadership after he accused Theresa May of strapping the UK to a “suicide vest”.
However, with advertising trade body leaders having warned that a no-deal Brexit would be a “hugely concerning” outcome for the industry, adland will be watching to see whether Morgan continues to press for a soft withdrawal agreement.
Meanwhile, Morgan hasn’t been without her own controversy. During her tenure in David Cameron’s cabinet as education secretary from July 2014 until July 2016, she ignited ire by claiming that for young people, choosing creative subjects at school rather than STEM subjects could “hold them back for the rest of their lives”.
She also publicly fell out with Theresa May shortly after losing her cabinet post, criticising the former prime minister for the cost of a pair of leather trousers she had worn.
Now, as she takes over as culture secretary, Morgan’s in-tray will be filled with pressing issues from the advertising, media and tech industries, including calls for greater regulation over digital platforms, e-privacy laws, the future of the BBC and the licence fee, rolling out 5G, and decisions over the self-regulatory system the industry currently employs.
The advertising industry is a “hugely successful engine of our economy”, Stephen Woodford, chief executive of the Advertising Association, said in a statement following Morgan’s appointment.
For every £1 spent on advertising, £6 is returned in GDP, totalling over £132bn last year. The advertising industry also continues to experience strong growth in exports, up 18% this year to over £6.9bn – the largest trade surplus in advertising services in Europe.
However, according to Woodford, the success and reputation of the UK ad industry is dependent on a number of factors.
“These include ongoing access to the best talent from around the world, protecting the flow of personal data between the UK and EU, developing coherent digital policies to cement the UK’s position as Europe’s biggest digital advertising marketplace and protecting our self-regulatory system which allows advertisers to market their products in a responsible way to consumers,” he said.
“These qualities have made the UK a global force in advertising and they must be protected as we manage the next phase of our relationship with the EU and minimise any disruption.”