CRA responds to the Freelance Champion appointment
1st September 2026
The Government has appointed Leila D’Aronville and Lizzie Crump as the long-awaited Freelance Champions.
Leila is the founder of the North East Cultural Freelancers, a network supporting freelancers and small organisations across the region. Lizzie is one of the Co-Directors of What Next?, the UK’s largest free-to-access network for arts and culture.
In this shared role, they will represent the sector’s 703,000 freelancers in Government and on the Creative Industries Council - a joint industry and government forum which the CRA also sits on.
The government also published the Terms of Reference which set out the role and remit of the Champions. In the first few months of the role, they are expected to identify their priorities and finalise a plan of work for their initial 18 month tenure.
DMCS is providing the Champions with an engagement budget, administrative support, coordination of meetings and engagements, and access to relevant research, data and policy advice to enable the effective delivery of this role.
Anna Ganley, Chair of the Creators’ Rights Alliance and CEO, Society of Authors says:
“We welcome the appointment of Lizzie and Leila as the joint Freelance Champion and recognise the significant freelancer experience and insight they bring.
The CRA and its members called for the creation of this vital role, at a time when freelance creators are finding it harder than ever to sustain a living from their skills. Freelance creators’ incomes are shrinking, their work is becoming even more precarious and opportunities are drying up - all exacerbated by the rapid growth of generative AI.
Freelancers are the backbone of the creative industries, making up around a third of the industries’ 2.4 million workers - double the labour market average. This rises significantly in some professions, such as 90% of musicians. They are the heart and talent of the creative industries on which creative-adjacent businesses and many other businesses rely.
As the Chair of the Creators’ Rights Alliance I look forward to engaging with the Champions as soon as possible, and to represent the needs of our 21 member organisations and the thousands of freelancers they support.”
