UK lawmaker to head V&A Museum, triggering special election

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A British Labour Party lawmaker has been appointed the new director of London's Victoria & Albert Museum, the museum announced Friday. The move triggers a special election for his seat.

Tristram Hunt is a historian and broadcaster who was elected to Parliament in 2010.

The V&A, one of the world's leading art and design museums, said that Hunt had been "at the forefront of political, cultural and public life for the last decade."

A by-election will be held for his House of Commons seat — and his resignation deepens the crisis in Britain's opposition Labour Party.

Hunt, 42, opposes the party's direction under leader Jeremy Corbyn, who wants to return Labour to its socialist roots.

Hunt was among lawmakers hoping to pull the party toward the political center-ground it occupied under former leaders including Tony Blair.

In a resignation letter, Hunt said that serving in Parliament had been "both deeply rewarding and intensely frustrating."

In a brief statement, Corbyn thanked Hunt for his service to his constituents and the Labour Party, and wished him well.