The V&A — Victoria & Albert Museum in London has a new director: British historian, writer, and broadcaster Tristram Hunt, who has also served as the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent since 2010. Hunt follows German art historian Martin Roth, who announced his resignation last September in the wake of the Brexit vote. “He has a highly compelling mixture of experience across public life, the arts, history, education and academia, and knows our collections well from his writing and broadcasting,” V&A Chairman Nicholas Coleridge said when announcing Hunt’s appointment. “In addition, he is an informed and articulate leader and communicator on numerous facets of culture, both historic and contemporary, and I greatly look forward to working with him at the V&A.”“I have loved the V&A since I was a boy, and today it is a global leader in its unrivalled collections, special exhibitions, academic research and visitor experience,” Hunt said in a statement. “It is a moment of transformation and renewal for the V&A, with the upcoming opening of the new Exhibition Road entrance, and new sites and galleries in Dundee, China and Stratford. I am particularly pleased that, through the V&A ownership of the Wedgwood Collection, my passion for education in Stoke-on-Trent can continue. “The 42-year-old, who holds a First Class degree in history from the University of Cambridge, is considered an expert on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly Victorian urban history, and holds lectures on modern British history at the Queen Mary University of London; he has also lectured on British and international culture at the Centre for European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, the Centre for European Studies at Harvard, and Princeton University, among others.From 2001 to 2010 Hunt also worked as a history broadcaster, and presented over fifteen radio and television programs for the BBC and Channel 4 on subjects including Elgar and Empire, Isaac Newton, and the English Civil War.Hunt is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, one of the founders of the Stoke-on-Trent Literary Festival, and a Patron of the British Ceramics Biennial, and previously served as a Trustee of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund, as well as a Curator of the Mayor of London’s History Festival. From 2013 to 2015, he served as the Shadow Education Minister and then Shadow Education Secretary for the Labour Party. According to a post on Facebook, the politician will resign as a MP for his new position. Hunt is known in the UK as one of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s critics. “I am disappointed to see a talented MP like Tristram step down,” Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, was quoted by British newspaper The Guardian. “His departure will be keenly felt by parliament and by the Labour Party but I know he will continue to champion Stoke-on-Trent’s proud industrial heritage in his new role at the Victoria and Albert Museum.”
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