Lisa Nandy, a former charity worker and who previously served as the shadow minister for civil society, will lead the government department that contains the charities brief.
Nandy was appointed culture secretary in Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government, which swept to power with a huge majority last week.
Her new department contains responsibility for a range of areas including charities, gambling, tourism, sport, the creative industries and cultural property and heritage.
Nandy, who has been the MP for Wigan since 2010, worked for two charities before entering parliament and spent two years as the shadow minister for civil society.
She was a researcher at the homelessness charity Centrepoint between 2003 and 2005 before she spent five years at The Children’s Society as a senior policy adviser.
She was the shadow charities minister from October 2013 until she was promoted to shadow energy secretary.
Nandy has since held senior positions in opposition including shadow foreign secretary and shadow levelling up secretary.
She stood unsuccessfully in the Labour leadership contest in 2020, finishing third as Starmer won the ballot.
In a statement, she said she was thrilled to be appointed to lead the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
“Its industries give meaning to millions of lives and bring communities in our towns, villages and cities together,” she said.
“I will do everything I can to harness the limitless potential of the extraordinary people in these amazing sectors to drive economic growth, unlock opportunities for everyone and change lives for the better.”
Starmer has not finished appointing all the junior ministers so it remains to be seen whether Lilian Greenwood, who had been the shadow minister for civil society since September, will be asked to carry out the matching government role.