Former Shadow Charities Minister takes up DCMS role & James Timpson becomes Prisons Minister
Melanie May | 9 July 2024 | News
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed former Shadow Charities Minister Lisa Nandy to the post of Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, while James Timpson, Chief Executive of Timpson has been appointed as Prisons Minister.
Nandy is MP for Wigan, elected this month. She was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tessa Jowell from 2010 to 2012, Shadow Minister for Children from 2012 to 2013, and Shadow Minister for Charities and Civil Society from 2012 to 2015, with responsibility for Labour Policy on the voluntary sector. She served as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2015, shadowing Amber Rudd.
After another four years as a backbench MP, Nandy was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary in April 2020, then served as Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from November 2021 to 2023.
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She was appointed Shadow International Development Minister last November, holding this role until Labour’s election win.
Nandy has also previously worked at both Centrepoint and the Children’s Society, and is one of eight Cabinet Members with charity experience.
Commenting on her new role, Neil Heslop, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said:
“Congratulations to Lisa Nandy on her appointment as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. With considerable experience of working in frontline charities, the new Secretary of State will recognise the sector’s expertise in serving communities and delivering social impact. We look forward to working in partnership with the Department to make sure the civil society sector thrives in the coming years.”
James Timpson made Prisons Minister
Another key appointment with a charity connection is James Timpson as Prisons Minister. Timpson is well known for his work in training, mentoring and employing former prisoners, with 10% of Timpson colleagues recruited directly from prison, and has also chaired the Employers Forum for Reducing Reoffending, which is a group of employers who offer a second chance to people with a criminal conviction.
Timpson left his role as Chair of the Prison Reform Trust to take up the post with a statement on the charity’s site stating that: “As the Prison Reform Trust is a charity independent of government or any political affiliation, James stood down as chair immediately following his appointment to his new ministerial position.”
He is replaced at the charity by Nick Stace, who was expecting to start his term as chair at the end of 2024, but has now begun it with immediate effect. Stace is currently on the Executive Committee of Barclay’s UK and a board member of the Conduit Club, and was previously CEO of The Prince’s Trust.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.