John Whittingdale appointed new culture secretary

John Whittingdale has been appointed by prime minister David Cameron as culture secretary in the new majority Tory government.

Whittingdale, who takes over from Sajid Javid, was previously chair of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee, a post he held for ten years.

Javid, who had been culture secretary for just a year, is moving to the position of business secretary.

Whittingdale is a patron of Youth Music Theatre UK. Last year he described the BBC licence fee, which is up for charter renewal next year, as "worse than a poll tax".

It is anticipated he will have to oversee further cuts to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport budget.