New DCMS Minister, Margot James MP

Matt Hancock MP was promoted to be Secretary of State for Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). His promotion meant that there was a vacancy for the data protection brief in DCMS.

Margot James MP was promoted to serve as Minister for Digital at DCMS and her portfolio should include data protection policy.

So, what can the marketing industry expect from the new Minister?

Margot’s first job was for Maurice James Industries, a company founded by her father, where she worked in sales and marketing. She has personal experience working within marketing.

She went on to found her own business, Shire Health; a healthcare PR business. The business was later sold to WPP Group by Margot.

An entrepreneurial person, best demonstrated by her support for the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA), which provides funding and support to those on benefits who would like to start a business.

Speaking about the NEA, she said: “This support has been essential to the thriving business environment, which has seen over 2,000 new businesses start up in my constituency, Stourbridge, since 2010.”

Her business credentials were there and were not overlooked by the then new Prime Minister, Theresa May, who promoted her in 2016 to serve as a Minister within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Her brief at BEIS was for small business, consumers and corporate responsibility. Her experience in these areas place her well to deal with the issues at DCMS, which include responsibility for implementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) into UK law and for maintaining the free flow of personal data between the UK and other EU nations after the UK has exited the EU. The latter is a priority for the department, as outlined in a recent paper, which the DMA supports.

She is well placed to get off to flying start at DCMS and begin leading on the outlined critical issues for the future success of the UK’s creative industries.

The DMA congratulates Margot on her promotion and looks forward to working with in the future.