Born 1957. Journalist and author and former press secretary to Tony Blair as Leader of the Opposition (1994-97) and as Prime minister (1997-2000). From 2000-2003, he was director of communications for the Labour Party (2000-03). Before 1994, he had been political editor of Today newspaper and the Daily Mirror. Campbell gave detailed testimony on the political media and what he saw as the decline of genuine investigative journalism and the increasing tendency of owners, editors and senior journalists to wish to be political players. Embellishment and pure invention were tolerated and encouraged by some editors and owners, he said.
The ex-wife of former England footballer Paul Gascoigne was designated a Core Participant Victim by the Inquiry. During and after her marriage, Ms Gascoigne and her children were the subjects of intense media scrutiny, she said. She had pursued libel cases against several national newspapers and been awarded damages. She gave evidence of "massive intrusion" into her family's private life and examples of six totally untrue stories printed about her in the Mirror, the Daily Star, the News of the World and the People. She received apologies, statements or costs and damages from all of them, she said, telling the Inquiry that after she had taken action the press treated her with more respect.
