Britain’s Labour Party has one unequivocal success – its support of the arts. “Labour has a good enough story to tell on the arts – up 64% in cash and more in impact. Chris Smith is one of the few politicians to retire knowing he has done something brilliant – restoring free entry to museums and galleries, swelling attendances by 50%. But politics and art rub along like a fingernail on a blackboard: ministers too rarely sing its praises.”