Andy Burnham’s newly appointed Arts Minister was sacked by a French theatre after it ran up huge debts

BRITAIN’S new Arts Minister was sacked by a French theatre after it ran up huge debts. Andy Burnham made arts exec Ruth Mackenzie a peer last month so she could take up the Government role. Ruth Mackenzie, Britain’s new Arts Minister, was sacked by a French theatre after it ran up huge debts Credit: AFP Andy Burnham made arts exec Ms Mackenzie a peer last month so she could take up the Government role Credit: Getty The pair were special advisers to former Culture Secretary Chris Smith in Tony Blair’s first Government. But MPs questioned her appointment after it emerged she was fired from a historic Parisian theatre in 2020. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! She served nearly three years as artistic director at the Théâtre du Châtelet before being booted out amid managerial and financial concerns. It ran up a multi-million-euro deficit due to a series of struggling projects. They included a loss of more than £855,000 on a production of Singin’ in the Rain and a costly immersive reconstruction of Soviet life. French audit findings said her appointment produced a governance crisis. By the time a new director took over in 2023, it had recorded a cumulative deficit since 2017 of £4million. After she was fired she said: “I can only assume it’s because I’m a woman and foreign.” Most read in The Sun Shadow Culture Secretary Nigel Huddleston said last night: “The woman who lost a million euros on Singin’ in the Rain is now deciding how taxpayers’ money is spent.” She will serve under Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. A source close to Ms Nandy said: “She is an asset to the Government, brings a wealth of experience, and her appointment has been rightly welcomed.” Comment now