Prime Minister of UK and Leader of Labour Party 2007 - 2010, prior to which he was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Blair Government from 1997 - 2007. Brown was a Member of Parliament from 1983 - 2015, first for Dunfermline East and later for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. Stood down as MP in 2015. Brown criticised the Sun for use of unauthorised information about his son's medical details and accused Rupert Murdoch of lying on oath. He criticised James Murdoch of "breathtaking arrogance" and claimed that the Conservative Party adopted all the policies put forward by the Murdoch company.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, following stints as Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Thatcher Government. Had retired from politics at time of giving evidence, having been MP for Huntingdon from 1979 to 2001. He told the Inquiry that in a private meeting before the 1997 general election, Rupert Murdoch had pressed for the Conservative Government to alter policy regarding the EU or risk losing the support of his papers. In the event, The Sun did back Labour in the 1997 election. While characterising the UK press as a whole as a "curate's egg", Major told the Inquiry he believed The Sun had "lowered the tone" of public life. He believed newspaper proprietors should be "personally liable" for articles in their newspapers, not able to "wash their hands" of alleged wrongdoing by individual reporters.
British Conservative Party politician and former Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton. Osborne served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister David Cameron from 2010 to 2016 and has been editor of the London Evening Standard since May 2017. Answered Inquiry's questions on BSkyB bid and defended his party's appointment of Andy Coulson as head of communications.
Founded 1827. London-based free newspaper, published Monday to Friday. Owned by Russian businessmen Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny and edited from May 2017 by former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London, covering national and international news and City of London finance. Evgeny Lebedev gave evidence to the Inquiry on his perception of the importance of a free press.
