Why Scarborough should be the centre of a cultural ‘renaissance’ in UK

Lisa Nandy MP, the secretary of state for culture, media, and sport, has said that Scarborough and other coastal communities should be “at the centre of our new renaissance” of culture and creative investment.

She said: “Our coastal communities have so much to offer this country. They have offered so much in the past when it comes to tourism, music and nightlife.”

She made the comments in the House of Commons on Wednesday, October 9, during a debate on the British film industry.

The MP for Scarborough and Whitby, Alison Hume, asked the secretary of state: “Does she agree that it is vital that our creative skills pathway reaches coastal communities, so that talented young people in constituencies such as mine have access to training and the opportunity to help fill the creative skills gap?”

During the election Ms Hume campaigned on supporting the area’s creative industries.

The MP for Scarborough and Whitby is also a television screenwriter and has been nominated for several awards, winning the Royal Television Society’s Writer of the Year prize in 2008.

Ms Nandy, the secretary of state, said that the Government was “committed to ensuring that coastal communities that have played such an important part in our cultural life for generations and mean so much to so many families in the UK, including my own, are at the centre of our new renaissance.”

She added: “I was privileged to go with my hon. Friend Chris Webb to see the incredible work going on in that coastal community, to help to develop the incredible creative pipeline of talent that comes out of communities like his and hers.”

In 2026 ‘Scarborough 400’ celebrations are also planned for the town’s birthday with a focus on the spa pump as well as cultural attractions such as the Open Air Theatre and Scarborough Spa venue which have continued to attract visitors to the coast.