Labour MP Alice Macdonald has welcomed Creative Industries Minister Ian Murray to Norwich for talks on how the city and wider East Anglia can build on their strength in culture and the creative industries.
Macdonald, the MP for Norwich North, joined Murray and Labour’s Norfolk and Suffolk mayoral candidate Carli Harper for the event, which focused on the contribution of creativity and culture to jobs, investment and regional growth.
Macdonald said:
Brilliant to talk about the amazing creativity and culture we have in Norwich and East Anglia – and how we can boost it even further!
Murray currently serves as Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Online Safety, with responsibility for the creative industries, media and international soft power.
Norwich recognised for cultural strength
Norwich has a substantial cultural sector spanning music, literature, theatre, museums, visual arts and creative businesses.
The city was recently one of only three places chosen to participate in the national Cultural Vitality Labs project, examining the conditions that allow local culture and creativity to flourish. Norwich City Council is now using that work to help shape a new cultural strategy for the city.
The local Creative Norwich partnership includes organisations such as Norwich Theatre, Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich University of the Arts, the National Centre for Writing, the Sainsbury Centre, the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and the University of East Anglia.
Harper campaigning for Norfolk and Suffolk mayoralty
Macdonald also highlighted the presence of Carli Harper, Labour’s candidate for the new Norfolk and Suffolk mayoralty.
Harper is a Labour councillor for Lakenham in Norwich and currently leads the Labour group on Norwich City Council.
Her mayoral campaign has focused on jobs, transport, housing, green growth and making the region a stronger centre for innovation and the creative economy. The inaugural Norfolk and Suffolk mayoral election is now expected in 2028.
Creative industries part of wider growth agenda
The meeting reflects Labour’s wider emphasis on the creative industries as an economic sector rather than simply a cultural one.
Murray’s ministerial brief covers creative industries alongside media, digital infrastructure and international soft power, putting him at the centre of government efforts to support growth in sectors such as film, television, music, design and digital content.
For Norwich and East Anglia, the challenge will be translating the region’s cultural strengths into more investment, better-paid jobs and opportunities for young people.
Macdonald’s message is that Norwich already has the creativity and talent — and that stronger partnership between government, local leaders and the sector can help turn those strengths into wider economic growth across East Anglia.
