Editor of MailOnline, the website of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, at the time of the Inquiry. Previously Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, Clarke had also held editorial positions at the Daily Mirror, Scottish Daily Mail, The Scotsman and the Irish Mail on Sunday. Giving evidence to the Inquiry, he defended some web stories that had been criticised by detailing sources and defended other claims, such as that "racism is hard-wired in the human brain", by reference to original sources. Clarke told the Inquiry that "news speaks for itself".
Scottish politician. First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. MP for Banff and Buchan from 1987 to 2010, and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) for more than twenty years. Answered questions on transparency and relations between politicians and press with particular relevance to Scotland.
Trinity Mirror was one of Britain's biggest newspaper groups at the time of the Inquiry, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record, all of which gave evidence to the Inquiry. Chief Executive at the time was Sly Bailey, who had been appointed in 2003, and who gave extensive evidence on hacking and the ethical practices and procedures in place. In 2012, following substantial drops in circulation and profits, Trinity Mirror asked her to resign. The use of private investigators was banned after the convictions of Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire, Bailey told the Inquiry.
