Maria Miller named UK culture secretary as Jeremy Hunt moves to health

Miller has been promoted to cabinet for the first time and in addition to her new responsibilities at the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) she will also become minister for women and equalities.

The Tory MP was selected as the parliamentary spokeswoman for Basingstoke in May 2003 and has most recently served as the minister for disabled people at the Department for Work and Pensions.

She has beaten Ed Vaizey, who was tipped for the DCMS post amid frenzied speculation about the prime minister’s reshuffle.

Miller has experience in the media sector following two spells at advertising agency Grey Advertising, as well as a four-year stint as a marketing manager at oil firm Texaco, before she became an MP in 2005.

Hunt: health secretary

Hunt replaces Andrew Lansley as health secretary after more than two years at the DCMS.

His position had come under intense scrutiny after he became embattled in a row over his relationship with James Murdoch while deciding whether to clear the way for News Corporation’s takeover of BSkyB in 2011.

Hunt survived a Leveson inquiry investigation into the way his office conducted itself during News Corp’s bid, but the judge is yet to fully report his findings on the relationship of the press with the public, police and politicians.

The issue has become one of the defining moments of his tenure and has overshadowed some of the other policy initiatives that Hunt has set in motion.

Hunt also led the charge to abolish the UK Film Council.

Local TV

As well as negotiating a six-year freeze to the BBC licence fee with outgoing director general Mark Thompson, Hunt made establishing local TV one of his key priorities for the broadcasting industry.

Last month, Ofcom announced that 57 bids had been lodged for 19 local TV licences around the country - with plans to establish stations over the next two years.

The DCMS is also planning a new Communications Act and intended to publish a green paper setting out its stall in June. However, the paper was shelved in favour of policy seminars after it was decided that a complete overhaul of comms regulations was not necessary.

This story was first published by Broadcast.