British Indian MP Lisa Nandy, who secured a strong victory in the Wigan constituency in north-west England, has been appointed as the new Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport by Prime Minister Keir Starmer following Labour's substantial election success.
At 44 years old, Nandy, who competed in the Labour Party leadership contest against Starmer in January 2020 and has since served in his shadow cabinet, will now take over the culture portfolio from Lucy Fraser, a casualty of the recent Conservative electoral losses under Rishi Sunak.
In her acceptance speech after defeating a far-right Reform UK candidate in Greater Manchester, Nandy passionately addressed those promoting divisive politics in Wigan: "I want to say to those people who’ve brought their nasty, hateful, racist politics to our town, the history of Wigan is of working-class people who for 100 years have driven you and your hate out of our town over and over again. So take this result tonight as your marching orders. We are a better town than you. You are not welcome here. You can take your nasty divisive rhetoric elsewhere because we’ve got a job to do."
The Manchester-born daughter of Calcutta-born academic Dipak Nandy and a British mother, Nandy has frequently highlighted her Indian heritage at Labour Party conferences, emphasizing her father’s contributions to race relations in Britain.
Speaking at a party conference in Brighton, she said, “Friends, we meet today in a city which looks out onto the ocean, from an island shaped by waves of immigration. They include the many children of Empire, like my dad, who came here from India in the 50s and through the struggle to create the Race Relations Act helped forge our national story. This is the country we can be. One that lifts our eyes beyond the horizon, to see that together – only together – will we change the lives of people here and across the world.”
Reflecting on the impact of the Indian Independence movement on her family, she recalled, “The seams of my family were threaded together when the Indian independence campaign, supported by my grandparents, had devastating consequences for Lancashire textile workers. When the cotton stopped coming, the mills stopped running and the workers went hungry. But members of my family, who worked in those mills, were among those who welcomed Gandhi to Lancashire. Because they knew, as I know, as the first mixed race woman to ever hold this office, that solidarity has power and our struggle is one and the same.”
Nandy's appointment marks a significant milestone as she becomes the first mixed-race woman to hold the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport position, continuing her family’s legacy of advocacy and service.
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