Who Are Britain’s Cultural Leaders?
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16 hours ago
Here are 10 recently appointed icons pushing the arts to new frontiers of imagination and excellence
It’s no secret that the UK is home to some of the world’s biggest names in film, TV, art and theatre. Our culture is being reshaped by its new leaders who are bringing change, innovation and fresh energy to some of our major institutions and creative outlets. But who are the names to know in 2026? Charlotte Metcalf profiles some of Britain’s most exciting cultural changemakers.
The List: Britain’s Cultural Leaders
David Byrne
Royal Court Theatre
Shortlisted for the Sky Arts 2025 Prize for a Body of Work, Byrne left the New Diorama Theatre for the Royal Court early in 2024. With his Young Playwright’s Award and Writers Card Membership he has encouraged challenging new writing, giving back the Royal Court its reputation as the writers’ theatre. It’s now attracting major directors, like Marianne Elliott who directed Nick Payne’s The Unbelievers and Josie Rourke who directed Sophie Chetin-Leuner’s Porn Play.
Devyani Saltzman
Barbican Centre
Since being appointed as Barbican’s head of arts and participation in summer 2024, the Canadian writer, curator and public thinker is set on social change, using the arts and ideas-led programming to make sense of an increasingly senseless world. Working across cinema, creative collaboration, immersive, music, theatre, dance and visual arts, Saltzman has fast established herself as a champion of the arts and a major contributor to British soft power.
Victoria Siddall
National Portrait Gallery
In August 2024 Siddall was the first woman to become the National Portrait Gallery’s director in its 168-year history. Having worked for Frieze for 20 years, setting up Frieze Masters in 2012 and eventually running all its global fairs, she brings a wealth of experience to the newly renovated gallery. Already she’s drawing in younger crowds with exhibitions like Culture Shift about The Face magazine and the first one-woman major show of YBA’s Jenny Saville’s work.
Steven Knight
Digbeth Loc Studios
Determined to make Birmingham a cultural hub, Knight has thrown his energy into building Digbeth Loc, the film and TV studio complex. Knight is known for being a multi-talented writer and director who has been responsible for numerous television productions. In July 2025 it was announced he will write the screenplay for the next James Bond film, arguably the UK’s best known cultural export.
Stephen Graham & Jack Thorne
Screenwriters & Producers
Jack Thorne was already a well-known writer with credits ranging from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to the miniseries Best Interests with Michael Sheen and Sharon Horgan. Stephen Graham was already an established producer and actor, lauded particularly for his role in Boiling Point. His breakout role was in the film This is England (2006) and Thorne went on to co-write the This is England TV series. However, it was as co-creators of the 2025 multiple award-winning television drama series Adolescence that swept them into the limelight, cementing their reputation as two of the UK’s leading creatives with their fingers firmly on the nation’s pulse.
Nadia Fall
Young Vic
Nadia Fall stepped into the breach at the Young Vic last year when Kwame Kwei-Armah left. With a wealth of experience in theatre, working with some of the greats like Nicholas Hytner, she’s also a film director (her debut feature film Brides premiered at Sundance in 2025). Fall’s programming has put the Young Vic firmly on the map again as a small theatre with a mighty reach – take James Graham’s Punch, which had a hugely successful transfer to the West End in the late autumn.
Jesús Herrera
London Philharmonic Orchestra
In spring 2025, Spanish-born Herrera joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) from the London-based agency, Intermusica. He ran the Castilla y León and Valladolid orchestras in Spain and is known for creating youth orchestras and supporting young performers. His reputation for dynamic programming is attracting a new generation to music and brings an innovative and collaborative approach to LPO, such as his sea-inspired events and concerts over autumn 2025.
Indhu Rubasingham & Kate Varah
National Theatre
Kate Varah became executive director of the National Theatre in 2022 and Indhu Rubasingham joined from the Kiln in Kilburn as creative director last spring. Together they have focused on making the modernist building far more welcoming to everyone of all ages and are delivering a bold, sometimes controversial, season of work including Bacchae, Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Pride.
