Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007 and leader of Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. Special Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East at the time of giving evidence. He testified about the relationship between politicians and the media as well as giving accounts of the history between his cabinet and the press. He defended his relationship with Rupert Murdoch as a "working relationship", "about power" and not "personal", though it had by then emerged that he became godfather to Murdoch's daughter after he had left office. He stated: "I don't know a policy that we changed because of Rupert Murdoch."
Peter Brooke served in the Cabinet under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and was the Member of Parliament representing the Cities of London and Westminster from 1977 to 2001. Gave evidence on his period as Heritage Secretary (1992-1995) during which time the Calcutt Committee recommendations on self-regulation of the press and Clive Soley's bill on press ownership were being discussed.
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.
At the time of the Inquiry, Chair of the Association of Police Authorities and member and of West Yorkshire Police. Burns-Williamson was appointed OBE for services to Community and Policing in the 2012 Honours List.
Baroness Buscombe is an English barrister and politician and a Conservative member of the House of Lords. She was Chief Executive of the Advertising Association from 2007 to 2009 and served as Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission from 2009 to 2011. At the time of giving evidence she was still Chairman but her successor had been appointed. Buscombe spoke of inadequate political support for the PCC and lack of support from the industry. She also believed that the issue of rights and privileges of journalists required careful analysis.
Born 1943. Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills (May 2010-May 2015), elected leader of the Liberal Democrats in 2017. Cable gave evidence to the Inquiry on representations made to him about the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation from a variety of organisations, MPs and constituents. Cable told the Inquiry he decided that the acquisition raised concerns of public interest and should not proceed. His decision made him the subject of multiple attacks in some national newspapers.
Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 and UK Prime Minister when the Inquiry was set up. Cameron was close to the Murdoch newspapers and had appointed Andy Coulson, former editor of the News of the World, as his principal media adviser. Gave extensive evidence to the Inquiry agreeing that self-regulation was not working but arguing that statutory regulation was worrying. He admitted Coulson was “a controversial appointment” but said he had had no overt or covert deal with newspapers.
Conservative politician, MP for Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire since 1970. Gave written submission that he was in favour of statutory regulation. Appearing in person, he added that the importance that politicians gave to newspapers was out of proportion to the effect newspapers had on public opinion.
Born 1955. Retired senior police officer with London's Metropolitan Police, most notably having served as a Deputy Assistant Commissioner with the Specialist Operations directorate, commanding the Counter Terrorism Command. In February 2016 he was appointed HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in a written statement to Parliament by Michael Gove.
Deputy Prime Minister at the time of the Inquiry and until 2015. Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam from 2005 to 2017. Appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for Political and Public Service. Told the Inquiry he believed a strong, free press was the lifeblood of a democracy but that revelations about News of the World phone-hacking had led to widespread revulsion. He gave evidence on the importance of the press in holding politicians to account and raising issues that politicians would rather not see aired.
MP for Charnwood at the time of giving evidence, Dorrell had been responsible for media policy and regulation as heritage secretary in the 1990s, when the Conservative Government decided to do nothing with the Calcutt suggestions for press reforms. Dorrell told the Inquiry he thought "recent wrongdoing" such as phone hacking was a failure of management not of regulation and that a powerful ombudsman could work without intervention from the state. Lord Levenson suggested that a statute giving legal recognition to the Ombudsman's views would not amount to parliamentary control.
Hughes was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2010 to 2014, and from 2013 until 2015 was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice. In 2012, he gave lengthy evidence to the Inquiry about the extent of hacking of his private phone from 2002 to 2006, when details of his private relationships had been made public and The Sun had reported that Hughes had made telephone calls to a gay chat service. He learnt of the full extent of the hacking only after Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman were convicted of illegally intercepting voicemails on behalf of the News of the World in 2007. Hughes discovered that Mulcaire had collected extensive information about his contacts, private hotline and phone calls. Hughes told the Inquiry that he had seen the emergence of an increasingly unhealthy relationship between politicians and the Murdoch newspapers.
David Hunt, Conservative politician and former member of Cabinet during the Margaret Thatcher and John Major administrations, was appointed chairman of Press Complaints Commission as the Leveson Inquiry was getting underway (replacing Baroness Buscombe). He said he hoped to lead "wholesale regeneration and renewal of the system of independent self-regulation of the press".
British Conservative Party politician, Member of Parliament for South West Surrey since 2005. At the time of the Inquiry, Hunt was Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (2010-2012). He was questioned extensively on phone calls and discussions surrounding News Corporation's attempted takeover of BSkyB.
British Labour Party politician, born 1960, who served as Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010. Other cabinet positions in the Blair and Brown governments include Health Secretary and Education Secretary. He served as MP for Hull West and Hessle from 1997 to 2017. Answered questions at the Inquiry on phone-hacking allegations against the News of the World and on police action cases against royal correspondent Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.
Member of Parliament from 1992 to 2015, holding major ministerial positions including (from 2001 to 2007) as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Designated a Core Participant Victim at the Inquiry, she gave extensive evidence, based on her experience both as Secretary of State responsible for media and as a victim of phone-hacking. In her evidence, she accused the press of "total invasion" of her privacy. Jowell accepted £200,000 in damages from the News of the World (£100,000 of which went to a charity), after the police informed her that her phone had been comprehensively hacked. Raised to the peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours, Baroness Jowell died from cancer in May 2018.
British Liberal Democrat politician and solicitor. Member of Parliament for North Norfolk since 2001 and chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee since 2017. Gave evidence that he had met News Corporation executive Fred Michel on two occasions and that the proposed takeover of BskyB had been raised. Lamb told the Inquiry that Michel suggested it would be a "pity" if the "fair" coverage given by News Corporation papers to the Lib Dems could not be continued. Lamb reported the conversation to the party leader.
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.
Gave evidence to the Inquiry as statutory Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC). From January 2010 to January 2012, he was Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority (the "MPA"). His public statement that too many police resources were being allocated to the phone-hacking inquiry led some politicians to calls for his resignation.
Peter Mandelson was Labour MP for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004. Held a number of Cabinet positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and was European Commissioner for Trade from 2004 to 2008. He denied there had been a "Faustian pact" between Labour and Rupert Murdoch but was of the view that relations between both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown with News International were "closer than were wise".
