
Lisa Nandy
UK Culture Secretary; holds final sign-off on the Sky-ITV deal.
Last refreshed: 7 July 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
Why does one government minister get the final say on the Sky-ITV deal?
Timeline for Lisa Nandy
Sky signs £1.6bn deal to buy ITV
Media's AI PivotWho has final approval over the Sky-ITV deal?
What protections did Lisa Nandy secure in the Sky-ITV deal?
Background
Lisa Nandy holds final sign-off authority as UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport over Sky's roughly £1.6bn acquisition of ITV's broadcast and streaming Arm, formally signed on 6 July 2026 with ITV's public-service broadcasting status protected to 2034.
Nandy has served as Culture Secretary in the Labour government since July 2024 and is the MP for Wigan, a seat she has held since 2010. She previously held shadow cabinet brief roles before Labour's return to power, and has positioned her department's media brief around public-service broadcasting resilience amid consolidation and AI disruption.
Her department's review of the Sky-ITV deal is one of the most consequential UK media-ownership decisions of the year, testing how FAR the government will let broadcast consolidation proceed provided public-service commitments, such as newsroom protections to 2030, are locked in as conditions.