Chris Smith joins National Theatre board

Sir Christopher Hogg, Chairman of the Board, said: "I warmly welcome Chris Smith as a member of our Board. His wisdom and standing and his experience as a Member of Parliament and a former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport will be of the greatest value to us in our deliberations."

The news of Smith's appointment comes soon after the announcement that the theatre's chief executive Baroness McIntosh is to leave next spring.

Her departure will give Nicholas Hytner (who succeeds Trevor Nunn as the theatre's director in 2003) a say in the new appointment and thus help him make his mark some time before he officially takes over.