No sooner had people in museums and galleries started to get used to James Purnell, the newish culture secretary, then he was gone. After fewer than seven months in office he was promoted to secretary of state for work and pensions when Peter Hain's resignation forced a cabinet reshuffle in January.
Andy Burnham, formerly chief secretary to the treasury, was drafted into the department for culture in Purnell's place - and at first glance, the two men appear to be cut from the same cloth.
They once shared a flat, have played for the same football teams and both made the transition from Blairite to Brown supporter fairly seamlessly. Politically, it would be hard to put a cigarette paper between them.
Purnell was seen as a safe pair of hands who "got" the arts and believed in the intrinsic value of culture. One of his first acts as minister was to commission Brian McMaster's review of excellence in the arts that was published earlier this year (Museums Journal February 2008, p5).
Burnham has already made it clear that he endorses the McMaster report. He told Museums Journal that excellence can come in different forms: "Museums like the Manchester Museum and the Imperial War Museum North take quite different approaches but both are excellent. McMaster acknowledges this and makes it clear that a one-size-fits-all approach won't get us where we want to be."
He stressed that all sections of the population should be able to visit excellent museums. He reiterated the emphasis on excellence when launching the new "cultural offer" scheme in London last month (see news p5).
The idea behind the scheme is that every schoolchild should have access to five hours of quality culture, including museums and galleries, every week. If the ten pilot schemes are a success Burnham wants the scheme rolled out, with extra cash to back it, from 2011.
As his first big policy announcement, it has been greeted warmly, although the detail was a little hazy to begin with and his performance on Radio 4's Today programme was less than assured.
Although some have said that Burnham lacks the articulate confidence of his predecessor, there is hope that he will be more down-to-earth and approachable.
He has already visited museums in Liverpool and said that he was impressed with work at the Tate, the International Slavery Museum and the Merseyside Maritime Museum: "I know for myself how fresh and stimulating the education work of our museums can be," he said.
And he has a track record on museums; he was a special adviser to former culture minister Chris Smith at the time when free entry for national museums was introduced. He says he now wants to extend the principle to the performing arts with "free weeks" - again an idea that was highlighted in the McMaster report.
The other key issue in his in-tray will be the long-awaited national museums strategy. Burnham told Museums Journal that he thought it was important to have a strategy that covered all museums, regardless of constitution and funding, and said that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was working with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council before developing an action plan.
It seems unlikely that the diminishing amount of money available for acquisitions will be top of Burnham's list of things to sort out though.
Speaking last year in his treasury role he said that tax changes to encourage the donation of artworks, such as those proposed in the Goodison Review, would have to be funded, and that most museums still had only a small part of their collections on display. In the light of this, it seems doubtful that he will be sympathetic to stumping up more cash for acquisitions.
His background at the treasury should come in handy though for the next spending round - if he lasts that long. As one of New Labour's young turks (he's only 38), Burnham has already been tipped for the top.
In these times of uncertainty and organisational restructure a culture secretary who lasts more than a few months would be very welcome - assuming his enthusiasm translates into action.
www.creative-partnerships.com/offer
Andy Burnham, formerly chief secretary to the treasury, was drafted into the department for culture in Purnell's place - and at first glance, the two men appear to be cut from the same cloth.
They once shared a flat, have played for the same football teams and both made the transition from Blairite to Brown supporter fairly seamlessly. Politically, it would be hard to put a cigarette paper between them.
Purnell was seen as a safe pair of hands who "got" the arts and believed in the intrinsic value of culture. One of his first acts as minister was to commission Brian McMaster's review of excellence in the arts that was published earlier this year (Museums Journal February 2008, p5).
Burnham has already made it clear that he endorses the McMaster report. He told Museums Journal that excellence can come in different forms: "Museums like the Manchester Museum and the Imperial War Museum North take quite different approaches but both are excellent. McMaster acknowledges this and makes it clear that a one-size-fits-all approach won't get us where we want to be."
He stressed that all sections of the population should be able to visit excellent museums. He reiterated the emphasis on excellence when launching the new "cultural offer" scheme in London last month (see news p5).
The idea behind the scheme is that every schoolchild should have access to five hours of quality culture, including museums and galleries, every week. If the ten pilot schemes are a success Burnham wants the scheme rolled out, with extra cash to back it, from 2011.
As his first big policy announcement, it has been greeted warmly, although the detail was a little hazy to begin with and his performance on Radio 4's Today programme was less than assured.
Although some have said that Burnham lacks the articulate confidence of his predecessor, there is hope that he will be more down-to-earth and approachable.
He has already visited museums in Liverpool and said that he was impressed with work at the Tate, the International Slavery Museum and the Merseyside Maritime Museum: "I know for myself how fresh and stimulating the education work of our museums can be," he said.
And he has a track record on museums; he was a special adviser to former culture minister Chris Smith at the time when free entry for national museums was introduced. He says he now wants to extend the principle to the performing arts with "free weeks" - again an idea that was highlighted in the McMaster report.
The other key issue in his in-tray will be the long-awaited national museums strategy. Burnham told Museums Journal that he thought it was important to have a strategy that covered all museums, regardless of constitution and funding, and said that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was working with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council before developing an action plan.
It seems unlikely that the diminishing amount of money available for acquisitions will be top of Burnham's list of things to sort out though.
Speaking last year in his treasury role he said that tax changes to encourage the donation of artworks, such as those proposed in the Goodison Review, would have to be funded, and that most museums still had only a small part of their collections on display. In the light of this, it seems doubtful that he will be sympathetic to stumping up more cash for acquisitions.
His background at the treasury should come in handy though for the next spending round - if he lasts that long. As one of New Labour's young turks (he's only 38), Burnham has already been tipped for the top.
In these times of uncertainty and organisational restructure a culture secretary who lasts more than a few months would be very welcome - assuming his enthusiasm translates into action.
www.creative-partnerships.com/offer
Andy Burnham's career at a glance
January 2008: secretary of state for culture, media and sport
June 2007-January 2008: chief secretary to the treasury
June 2001 until present: Member of parliament for Leigh
1998-2001: special adviser to secretary of state for culture, Chris Smith
January 2008: secretary of state for culture, media and sport
June 2007-January 2008: chief secretary to the treasury
June 2001 until present: Member of parliament for Leigh
1998-2001: special adviser to secretary of state for culture, Chris Smith