Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party in the UK by a landslide on 12 September. A backbench member of parliament for more than 30 years, Corbyn is a die-hard left-winger, whose victory has left many centrist Labour MPs fearing that the party will lose the next general election under his leadership. But his radical culture agenda is likely to be broadly welcomed by museums coping with years of government cuts. Striking workers at the National Gallery in London were delighted by his victory.
Little is known about Corbyn’s personal interest in the arts, but the socialist politician has said that he occasionally writes poetry on trains and creates paintings that are “abstract beyond belief”.
On 1 September, Corbyn issued a 13-page policy paper on the arts as part of his manifesto to be the new leader. His most important commitment is to rescind the large-scale cuts in government funding to arts institutions, introduced under the Conservative prime minister David Cameron. “As our economy recovers, we should be increasing government arts funding, restoring cuts made since 2010,” Corbyn says in the paper.
National museums, for instance, have faced cuts of around 30%, with the prospect of further reductions of a similar order in the next few years. But despite the Labour leader’s commitment, he is giving no time frame for an increase in funding should he win the next general election.
Corbyn is also calling for a radical shift in funding from London to the regions. He wants a reduction of “London’s proportion of arts lottery share to its per capita share”. At present, the culture department and Arts Council England provide grants amounting to £70 a head in London, compared with £5 a head in the rest of England, partly because most national institutions are based in the capital.
Shortly before publishing his arts policy, Corbyn spoke out in support of warding staff at the National Gallery, who are on strike to protest against privatisation. He told us that the gallery’s new director, Gabriele Finaldi, should “meet the [Public and Commercial Services] union and resolve this dispute”.
On one point, government and opposition are in agreement, although both are seeking credit for the idea. In his policy paper, Corbyn points out that it is 50 years since Jennie Lee, the arts minister in Harold Wilson’s Labour government, set out official policy on the arts in a White Paper. He says that a new national strategy is “desperately needed”.
On 4 September, the Conservative arts minister, Ed Vaizey, published a blog pointing out that successive governments have not taken “an overview of the cultural sectors and the government’s role in supporting them”, with an overall vision and agenda for the future. “It’s time we did,” he wrote, promising a new White Paper, which is expected to be published this winter.
