Now its all over, I thought I'd have another look at what the new (old) Government are promising for the arts. They have quite a bit to say, it'll be interesting to see how it goes. The LibDems didn't say much in their manifesto, just that they would, of course, provide more money (where is all this money hiding?). The Tories didn't bother to mention the arts at all, there wasn't room in the short list of negative ideas they wanted to repeat ad nauseam. I think they missed a trick there...'More Police, Less Immigrants, More Landscapes and Still Lifes, Less Dead Sharks' would have gone down well with their supporters I reckon.
So here's a bit from the Labour manifesto...

Arts, culture and sport are thriving around Britain – enriching individual lives and transforming communities, towns and cities.They are important in their own right – as nourishment for our imagination or a source of plain enjoyment and our local environment should be a source of pride.We will work to improve the quality of life of every community in Britain.

The new Labour case
We believe in the inherent value of arts, culture and sport. Our towns
and cities are being energised by sports and culture and as they are
regenerated the quality of life for all is transformed.As we build on this change, our progressive challenge is to broaden participation as widely as possible, making the links between sport and health, and culture and well-being.We must combine the broadest base of participation with the ability for the most talented to progress to the very top. Our third term will embed the expectation that every child and every adult have the maximum chance to develop their creative or sporting talents.

Creative cities
Art and culture are valuable for their own sake; they are also crucial to our national prosperity. Britain’s cultural industries now make up over eight per cent of our national income;...

You can read the full thing here