This morning, we woke up to the news that the Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer will be running the country for the next five years and possibly longer.
The General Election has followed the kind of drama that would have struggled to garner one star from a generous Edinburgh Festival Fringe critic. This was akin to watching The Mousetrap played by an inept cast of understudies who have now been unceremoniously slung out. Rather than Agatha Christie’s usual comfortable abode, this production played out in a crumbling mansion where the lights and microphones kept going out and actors were in danger of physical harm from collapsing scenery.
To compound the problems, during the dénouement, the murderer was announced on a daily basis in the mass media, while the director appeared before the opening curtain to confirm whodunnit and cast members pointed the finger throughout. Very justifiably, given the circumstances, the audience should be demanding a full refund.
The big question is whether the replacement production team and cast can do any better on a shoestring budget. Encouragingly, the new director and designer seem convinced that they can boost the box office through some kind of theatrical magic, but that might just be the celebratory alcohol speaking.
What can the theatrical community look forward to under the new administration and prospective Arts Minister, Thangam Debbonaire? That has become a thorny proposition, since that lady is now the former MP for Bristol Central, having lost of the co-leader of the Green Party.
Being a minister or shadow involved in the arts was clearly bad news last night, since along with Ms Debbonaire, both of the most recent ministers holding the culture post are also now looking for new jobs. Whether or not the former musician is offered a place in the House of Lords or an early by-election win, we will have a new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
According to the BBC’s Henry Zeffman, “the two names I'm hearing most for that post are Chris Bryant, a former minister who had been part of Debonnaire’s shadow team, and Ellie Reeves, who had been Labour’s deputy campaign coordinator.”
The new supremo will not have a high bar to exceed, taking over in the wake of a dozen ministers who might each have been placed on a scale that only ranged between unsympathetic and non-existent.
After years of neglect, what the crumbling edifice of the arts requires is more than love and kind words. Put bluntly, this £120 billion a year industry desperately requires the kind of funding hike that made junior doctors unpopular with the outgoing administration.
Is there any chance that Rachel Reeves will make an immediate commitment to restore future funding to the levels that it achieved in real terms in the opening years of the millennium, let alone make up for all the losses in the succeeding 15 years? I fear the answer is none at all.
However, we must hope that, over the next five years, more public money will flow into the arts, while a recovering economy and maybe even some more generous tax breaks might persuade both individuals and companies to invest more and theatregoers to visit arts venues more regularly.
The real issue is that the arts have been denuded for so long that it may be impossible to recover. Theatres have dispensed with artistic directors thanks to lack of funding, co-productions with the smallest possible casts have become de rigueur, while some working in the sector have almost been reduced to the starvation status of the characters in La bohème. Many even have been forced to follow government recommendations in that notorious advert, giving up ballet for a far more 'worthwhile' career as a computer programmer.
Sir Keir and Miss Reeves seem confident that they can generate growth in the economy and, if that is the case, the arts will undoubtedly benefit. However, this will undoubtedly take time and may never happen. At the very least, they seem eager to promote arts education in schools and less likely to cut university degrees that do not lead to guaranteed jobs in the city.
During the campaign, the powers that be in the new government spent a great deal of time explaining their desire to remain as distant as possible from the European Union. One hopes that this was nothing more than bluster but, at the very least, it would be helpful if they could negotiate better deals regarding temporary movement into and out of Europe for those in the arts. Perhaps an early indication of intent might be a commitment by ministers to meetings with key players including Equity, commercial producers and those running or representing subsidised theatres.
As a final request, wouldn’t it be lovely to see a few high-powered ministers of state gracing theatres up and down the country. Those who follow the news know that Angela Rayner is a lover of opera, since she was derided by her Philistine opponents for such eccentric tastes. She should now pursue her passion and ensure that colleagues do the same.
On the basis that “things can only get better”, we should be viewing the future with optimism. How much remains to be seen.