Lisa Nandy
UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since July 2024.
Lisa Nandy holds the final say over Sky's roughly £1.6bn purchase of ITV's broadcast and streaming Arm, signed on 6 July with ITV's public-service status protected until 2034, while regulators review the deal.
Last refreshed: 3 October 2026 · Appears in 4 active topics
Why does one government minister get the final say on the Sky-ITV deal?
Timeline for Lisa Nandy
Told MPs on 3 September that England's register will be operational by March
Nomads & Communities: Wales opens register for every paid stayMentioned in: HC 62 deadline passes with no department
European Tech SovereigntyGave no assessment on the impact of losing frontier AI access
European Tech Sovereignty: Nandy claims the sovereign AI briefSky signs £1.6bn deal to buy ITV
Media's AI PivotBackground
Lisa Nandy has been UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport since July 2024 and Labour MP for Wigan since 2010. Her department covers broadcasting, the creative industries and the visitor economy.
Three files sit with her in 2026. She holds final sign-off on whether ITV keeps its public-service status after Sky's acquisition. On 3 September Commons committee chair Chi Onwurah asked her what losing access to frontier AI models would mean for the UK; Nandy said she had inherited the Sovereign AI brief from the former Science department secretary but gave no assessment, figure or date. That department, DSIT, was abolished on 20 July, and no successor has been named to answer the committee's HC 62 report.
In early September she also told MPs that England's short-let and holiday-let register would be fully operational by March 2027, later than the 2026 target, although fees and data fields had not been confirmed.
Nandy holds the final say
Sky formally agreed on 6 July to buy ITV's broadcast and streaming Arm in a deal worth roughly £1.6bn. ITV keeps its public-service broadcaster status until 2034, and Sky is targeting £200m in savings within three years.
As Culture Secretary, Nandy decides whether ITV's public-service status survives the change of owner. That gives her department the last word on Britain's biggest commercial broadcaster passing to a pay-TV group, with newsroom contracts protected to at least 2030 among the conditions attached. Regulators began their review after signing, so her decision comes at the end of that process rather than at its start.
Who has final approval over the Sky-ITV deal?
What protections did Lisa Nandy secure in the Sky-ITV deal?
When will England's short-let register be operational?
Who is Lisa Nandy?
