George Osborne, former Conservative MP and Chancellor has been appointed as the next Chairman of the British Museum.
Mr Osborne is going to join the board of Trustees from September and will take over from Sir Richard Lambert on October 4th.
The board approved his bid to become Chairman unanimously.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the team at the British Museum,” he says, adding that he is “so honoured to have had the opportunity to apply for this role.”
“All my life I have loved the British Museum. To my mind, it is simply the greatest museum in the world. It’s a place that brings cultures together and tells the story of our common humanity.”
The Board of Trustees of the British Museum are pleased to announce the appointment of their new Chair, George Osborne.
Read more here: https://t.co/Ui956FnAkB (1/2) pic.twitter.com/igOlIrVkND
— British Museum (@britishmuseum) June 24, 2021
Mr Osborne worked as a Conservative MP from 2001 to 2017 and acted as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 2010 and 2016. He is still a member of the Conservative Party.
After leaving politics, Mr Osborne became Editor of the Evening Standard, a role he left in March. In April, he became a partner at investment bank Robey Warshaw. He also acts as chairman of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership
A new era
Mr Osborne hopes to oversee a period of change at the museum.
Hartwig Fischer, the Director of the museum, says the museum is currently undergoing the “biggest transformative project” in its history.
Baroness Minouche Shafik, the deputy chair, says that Mr Osborne will be working with the board to increase the museum’s audience, during what will be a “major programme of renewal”.
It comes after last year’s controversy around artefacts linked to the slave trade. The Museum came under fire from activists over a bust of a slave owner and founding father Hans Sloane, displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery.
However, the government says that museums could lose public funding if they remove controversial artefacts.
The British Museum says they have no intention of removing controversial objects, but hope to “contextualise” some displays.
