Baroness Minouche Shafik By © European Union, 2025, CC BY 4.0

The V&A has been without a permanent chair since November 2023 with recruitment halted multiple times

Photo: ©European Union, 2025, CC BY 4.0

Changing Faces

Starmer names new V&A chair after relaunching selection process

Arts Professional
2 min read

Prime Minister KEIR STARMER has announced Baroness MINOUCHE SHAFIK will be the new chair of the V&A, succeeding Sir NICHOLAS COLERIDGE, who stood down in November 2023.

Shafik’s appointment comes after Starmer re-started the appointment process in October 2024 following earlier attempts to fill the post under the previous government, which were aborted amid claims of political interference and cronyism.

An economist, policymaker and higher education leader, Shafik has held leadership roles at national and academic institutions for over thirty years.

She was vice president of the World Bank, deputy governor of the Bank of England, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund and president of Columbia University and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

She is currently chairing a review of international development for government, having previously served as permanent secretary in the Department for International Development.

She holds a life peerage and is a crossbench member of the House of Lords, was deputy chair of the British Museum and currently serves on the board of the Gates Foundation.

“Minouche brings a wealth of experience across higher education, government relations, the creative industries and finance,” said V&A director TRISTRAM HUNT. “Crucially, she is passionate about the collections and the cosmopolitan mission of a global museum like the V&A.”

Shafik said: “I am thrilled to be taking on the chair of a family of museums that put creativity at the centre of everything. The V&A brings the fruits of human ingenuity to the public and inspires everyone to appreciate and create the things that express our humanity.”

Arts Minister Sir CHRIS BRYANT added: “Through the V&A family of museums, the history of human creativity, imagination and innovation are open to the British public. As the family expands with two new free sites in the next 18 months Minouche Shafik will be a pivotal figure in continuing the V&A’s success into the future.”