The Prime Minister has appointed Lord Daniel Finkelstein OBE, Tom Holland, Dr. Tiffany Jenkins, Martha Kearney and Claudia Winkleman as trustees of the British Museum; their four year terms started on 19 March 2025.

Lord Daniel Finkelstein OBE

Daniel is a columnist on The Times newspaper and a member of the House of Lords. He is also the author of a family memoir and history of the Second World War, ‘Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad’.

He joined the Times in 2001 having previously worked as an adviser to John Major when Sir John was serving as Prime Minister and William Hague when he was leader of the Opposition.

He is a patron of the Wiener Holocaust Library, a director of Chelsea FC, and the Chair of the Chelsea FC Foundation. In 1997 he was awarded an OBE as Director of Research for the Conservative Central Office.

Tom Holland

Tom is an award-winning historian, translator and broadcaster. He has written books about the Graeco-Persian wars; Roman history from the fall of the Republic to the age of Hadrian; empire and religion in late antiquity; Anglo-Saxon England; 11th century Latin Christendom; and the evolution and impact on the world of Christianity. He has translated Herodotus and Suetonius for Penguin Classics. 

He is co-presenter of the history podcast, The Rest is History. He has written and presented numerous TV documentaries, on subjects ranging from the Islamic State to dinosaurs. He is a Board Member of the British Library and an honorary fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge.

Dr. Tiffany Jenkins

Tiffany is a writer and academic. Her latest book, ‘Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life’, is set to be published in May 2025. Previous publications include ‘Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended up in Museums and Why They Should Keep Them’ (2016) and ‘Contesting Human Remains in Museum Collections: The Crisis of Cultural Authority’ (2010).

She has served as an honorary fellow in the History of Art at the University of Edinburgh and as a visiting fellow in the Department of Law at the London School of Economics. Her broadcasting contributions include presenting the series ‘A History of Secrecy, Contracts of Silence’, and ‘Beauty and the Brain: What Science Can and Cannot Tell Us About Art’ for BBC Radio 4. Additionally, she frequently appears as a critic on Radio 4’s Front Row, and her opinion pieces have been published in The Observer, Financial Times, The Spectator, and The Scotsman, where she previously served as a weekly opinion columnist.

Martha Kearney

Martha Kearney is a BBC presenter. She has presented the Today programme, The World at One, Woman’s Hour and Newsnight Review. As well as being Political Editor of Newsnight, she reported from Northern Ireland for many years and has had many overseas assignments including several trips to Afghanistan. 

Martha was educated in Edinburgh and at Oxford University where she studied classics. Archaeology remains a lifelong passion. After leaving Today in 2024 Martha has launched a new interview series for BBC Radio Four called This Natural Life.

Claudia Winkleman

As a child, Claudia went to the National Gallery and British Museum almost every Saturday morning with her father, igniting a passion which eventually led her to study History of Art at Cambridge University in 1993. 

After graduation, Claudia went on to work in television and radio and has done so for the past 30 years. She has hosted shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, The Traitors, The Piano and The Great British Sewing Bee. Claudia hosted the Radio 2 Arts Show for six years before hosting her eponymous show every Saturday morning at 10. In 2023 she won the BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance.

Claudia has written weekly columns for The Independent and The Sunday Times and continues to write for The Times. She is a Trustee for Comic Relief, a patron for Child Bereavement UK, and an Ambassador for The King’s Trust. 

How does an institution in the business of preserving the past prepare itself for the interests and sensibilities of the future? Where do museums fit in the national psyche?

In this episode of Worldview, host Adam Boulton is joined by director of the V&A Tristram Hunt, Professor Armand D'Angour (BCRPM member), and author Dr. Tiffany Jenkins to discuss what the future might hold for museums.

Tristram Hunt explains there is so much to be gained by understanding museum objects, the importance of open conversation, and the need to do more for art and design education. He also stresses the importance of provenance and that there are further conversations to be had with museums.

Armand D'Angour, now also a BCRPM member spoke passionately about the Parthenon Marbles and the opportunities for the British Museum to have a relevant display in Room 18, one that would appeal to today's museum visitors as they continue to be educated by the storytelling.

Tiffany Jenjkins spoke about 'repatriation' but was keen to stress the need for museums to kindle curiosity of past cultures, that the British Museum's ability to do this with many different cultures made it extra special as our curiosities deserve to be ignited and enlightened.

It was uplifting to hear Tiffany Jenkins say that one of her favourite museums was the Acropolis Museum.

The re-imagining of museum spaces when some artefacts are returned to their country of origin, is a great opportunity to open up the dialogue between communities, turning the storytelling holistic, engaging, and educational. Time to achieve that for the Parthenon Marbles.