Era of culture wars is over, pledges new culture secretary Lisa Nandy

Nandy (pictured) was made culture secretary after Thangam Debbonaire, who had held the job in opposition, lost her Bristol seat to the Greens. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

The “era of culture wars is over”, Lisa Nandy has promised in her first speech as culture secretary, saying her department will be at the heart of efforts to reflect a more positive and less divisive vision of the UK.

“For too long, for too many people, the story we tell ourselves, about ourselves as a nation, has not reflected them, their communities or their lives,” Nandy told staff at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).