Profile: James Purnell, Culture Secretary

James Purnell, the new Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media
and Sport, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in replacing Tessa Jowell in the Cabinet
reshuffle instigated by new Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The 37-year old Purnell, the MP for Stalybridge & Hyde, started his
political career as a researcher to Tony Blair when the former Prime Minister
was Shadow Employment Secretary in between 1989 and 1992.

After graduating in philosophy, politics and economics from Balliol College,
Oxford University, he went to Hydra Associates 1992-94, and then became a
research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research on their media and
communications project in between 1994-95.

Purnell then went on to take the post of head of corporate planning at the
BBC from 1995-97 before returning to work for the Prime Minister Tony Blair as
special adviser on culture, media, sport and the knowledge economy from
1997-2001.

He was honoured to be selected for the seat of Stalybridge and Hyde in 2001,
and went on to win the election with a majority of 8,859. As a Labour Member of
Parliament, he was a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee in the
House of Commons (2001-03), and the Chair of the All Party Group on Private
Equity and Venture Capital (2002-03).

In 2003, Purnell became Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Ruth Kelly
MP in the cabinet office, and in December 2004 he joined the Government as an
Assistant Whip.

In May 2005 he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport and this year was appointed Minister of
State for Pensions Reform at the Department of Work and Pensions.

Purnell’s personal website lists his interests as film, music, theatre and
football.

Among the sporting tasks now facing Purnell as culture secretary include an
overview role on the 2012 Olympics – although the bulk of this work will be
handled by his predecessor Tessa Jowell who has moved to head up the Olympics
ministry in a newly created department -, the role of government in running
football, and increasing sports participation levels across all age ranges and
genders.

Outside of sport, Purnell will have to embrace the difficulties of ensuring
the UK switches from analogue to digital TV, managing relations with the BBC,
and ensuring the newly created media regulator Ofcom continues to be respected
and adhered to.