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Business News
PR woman Maria Miller made Culture Secretary
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 5 September 2012
As expected, the clueless Jeremy Hunt has been kicked out of the Department Of Culture, Media & Sport in the government’s big ministerial reshuffle, though he’s been kicked out via a promotion to the top of the Department Of Health. I’d try not to get ill.
Aside from being clueless, Hunt, of course, caused the Coalition government considerable embarrassment via his close ties with the Murdoch empire while he was supposedly providing independent thinking regarding whether or not to allow Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to take complete ownership of BSkyB, in addition to its existing complete ownership of the News International newspapers.
The Sky bid collapsed in the wake of the Hackgate scandal at News International’s News Of The World of course, though further revelations of Hunt’s incompetence followed. All of which means that, should the government try to resist many of the recommendations due to be made by Brian Leveson regarding new media regulation rules (which they probably will), Hunt is not the man to lead that offensive.
However, political insiders say that Dave Cameron didn’t want to push Hunt out of his cabinet, partly due to personal loyalties, partly because the PM himself is tainted by Hackgate and the BSkyB bid, and basically sacking his culture minister would risk reigniting that scandal. So instead, let’s promote the fool to the job of running the National Health Service.
Back at the DCMS, Hunt’s replacement is not – as many expected – his junior minister at the culture department, the generally liked Ed Vaizey, but a newcomer to cultural affairs, Maria Miller, moving to the top culture job from a junior role at Work & Pensions. Miller’s background is advertising and PR, so not completely removed from the media, sport and content industries she will be working with moving forward, though quite how she will respond to the issues that concern the music industry – which of course vary across the music community – remains to be seen.
Though some have questioned the decision to give Miller the second role of Minister For Women & Equalities. If the creative industries are as important to the British economy as senior ministers keep saying they are (albeit mainly at gatherings of the creative industries), surely they should have a minister able to focus fully on them – especially given that the culture, media and sport industries are already a pretty diverse bunch? Or perhaps it’s women and equalities that will be given only passing concern under the reshuffled ConDem regime.
Of course Cameron might argue that Miller will not have the wide-ranging Olympics brief of her predecessor, and with capable junior ministers able to handle more routine matters with sectors like the music business (as they did under Hunt), it’s not too much of a stretch to give Miller a second area of responsibility. Although Lib Dem culture spokesman Don Foster has expressed concerns about that decision, telling reporters: “She will have to find a way of dealing with the dual responsibility for culture and equalities at a department that may not be big by Whitehall standards, but touches on issues that people care passionately about, from sport to libraries”.
