All-Party Music Group hits record high of 106 members in Parliament

11 May 2020 - Press release

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music soars as new members include ex-Culture Secretary Baroness Morgan.
 
Former Culture Secretary Baroness Morgan of Cotes is among the latest Parliamentarians to join the influential All-Party Group on Music.
 
The body has quadrupled in size from 27 MPs and peers in 2017 to a record high of 106 Parliamentarians under UK Music’s Acting CEO Tom Kiehl and UK Music Chair Tom Watson, a founder member of the group.
 
It is now one of the largest and best supported groups in Westminster and boasts members from all the major political parties.
 
The body is a key way of connecting politicians with the music business and informing them about the issues facing the industry.
 
The cross-party group, chaired by Conservative MP David Warburton since 2017, includes Parliamentarians from the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green, and Plaid parties, as well as the SNP and DUP.
 
Members include former BBC and ITV chairman Lord Grade, composer and broadcaster Lord Berkeley of Knighton, former Treasury Permanent Secretary Lord Macpherson of Earl’s Court, as well as former Secretaries of State Damian Green, Damian Hinds and Theresa Villers.
 
Labour's Shadow Culture Secretary Jo Stevens and Labour’s Shadow DCMS team of Tracy Brabin, Chris Matheson, Alex Sobel are also members.
 
The DCMS Select Committee is well represented with Julian Knight, Kevin Brennan, Steve Brine, Damian Green, Damian Hinds, Julie Elliott and Giles Watling all members of the APPG.
 
Liberal Democrat members of the group include the party’s DCMS Spokesperson Daisy Cooper and well as their DCMS Spokesperson in the Lords, Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury and Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Digital Economy Lord Clement-Jones.
 
The APPG played a crucial role in getting the “Agent of Change” principle enshrined into planning law to help protect music venues across the UK.  
 
Its members also helped win the argument for important copyright changes drawn up by the European Parliament to help creators and those who invest in the music industry.
 
UK Music is the voice of the UK's commercial music industry and provides the secretariat for the APPG on Music.
 
UK Music led the sector’s engagement with MPs that resulted in the ground-breaking report on live music from the House of Commons DCMS Select Committee in the last Parliament.
 
Commenting, UK Music’s Acting CEO Tom Kiehl said:
“It’s fantastic that the All-Party Music Group has attracted such a cross-section of support from across the Houses of Commons and Lords.
 
“It shows the importance to politicians from all parties of the UK music industry and its £5.2 billion contribution to our economy.
 
“The group is a unique forum for the music industry to highlight its concerns to politicians and ask for their support on current issues such as the impact of coronavirus.
 
“I’m confident that this group will continue to play an important role in contributing to the debate about issues involving the music industry.”