Sharkey meets with the Tories' cultcha team

UK Music top man Feargal Sharkey met with the Tories' culture team this week, the first time a rep of the music business has attended one of the opposition's regular meetings to discuss the cultural industries. Shadow arts minister Ed Vaizey and shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt were also there. As previously reported, Sharkey has already formed a working relationship with the government's recently appoint culture chief Ben Bradshaw, though, of course, who knows who will be in power in the UK this time next year so it's obviously important for those in the music world with a lobbying role to be courting both sides of the political fence at the moment.