William Bush and Deborah Shaw reappointed to the Arts Council England Board

The Secretary of State has reappointed William Bush and Deborah Shaw as National Council Members for Arts Council England.

William Bush

Bill is Deputy Chair of English Touring Opera and a Trustee of Civic Future. He has recently stood down as Chair of the Alliance for Intellectual Property and as Board member of the Football Foundation. 

During Bill's 20 years at the Premier League as Executive Director and latterly Senior Adviser, he led areas including intellectual property, public policy, relations with government and the EU, relations with fans, communications and the community programme. Before joining the Premier League, Bill worked as a Special Adviser to the Prime Minister and to Tessa Jowell at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and was Head of Research for BBC News 1991-1999. Early in his career, as a local government officer he ran the Office of the Leader of the Greater London Council (Ken Livingstone) from 1981-1986. 

Deborah Shaw 

Deborah is Chief Executive of the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (Theatre of the Year, Stage Awards 2022). As CEO, she has led on the creation of a new vision and business model bringing together the best of the subsidised and commercial sectors. Her recent focus has been on setting up Marlowe Theatre Productions to make and tour large-scale theatre and the development of the 800 year old Poor Priests' Hospital into a creative learning centre and heritage destination.    

Deborah has worked in regional, national and international theatre for over 30 years, including Associate Director at Watford Palace and Artistic Director at Chester Gateway theatres. She was Associate Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company for 8 years, including Director of the World Shakespeare Festival for London2012.
At Historic Royal Palaces, she commissioned artworks including the Sky/South Bank Award-winning Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red (‘the Poppies') at the Tower of London; The Lost Palace at the Banqueting House (European Heritage in Motion Best Achievement Award) and East Wall, with Hofesh Shechter Company, East London Dance and LIFT, one of the Guardian's top 10 dance productions of the 21st century.

She read History at Cambridge and has an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes for services to theatre. She chairs Creative Kent, co-chairs The Touring Partnership, is a Kent Ambassador and a founder-member of the Iraqi Theatre Company in Baghdad.

Remuneration and Governance Code

William Bush and Deborah Shaw's four-year second terms commenced on 15 May 2025.

The National Council Members for Arts Council England are not remunerated. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. 

Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. No significant political activity in the last 5 years has been declared by William Bush or Deborah Shaw.

DCMS has around 400 regulated Public Appointment roles across 42 Public Bodies including Arts Council England, Theatres Trust, the National Gallery, UK Sport and the Gambling Commission. We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. To find out more about Public Appointments or to apply visit the HM Government Public Appointments Website or follow us on LinkedIn.