Francis Aldhouse, solicitor, worked as deputy to the first Information Commissioner (formerly Data Protection Registrar) from 1985 to 2006. Gave evidence on his involvement in Operation Motorman during that time.
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.
Special Advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the time of the Inquiry, responsible for advising him in eight departments, including the Cabinet Office, Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Justice. Was questioned on an email exchange with Frederic Michel in 2010 when Michel was director of public affairs for News Corp. Colborne agreed that BskyB had come up in conversation but disputed Michel's account.
Former Chief Executive of the Independent Police Complaints Commission and Deputy Chair of the homelessness charity Crisis until 2016.
British solicitor and Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament since 1982, first for Peckham, and then for successor constituency of Camberwell and Peckham from 1997. Harman was Shadow Deputy Leader at the time of the Inquiry. She had served in various Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet positions and, in her role as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party served twice as Acting Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition. Her evidence covered consideration of regulation and the need for the Inquiry to address media ownership.
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.
John Prescott is a former Deputy Prime Minister (1997-2007) who represented Hull East as Labour MP from 1970 to 2010. Submitted "A New Regulatory Framework", a paper on the press drawn up by a Prescott-led working group, to the Inquiry.
John Stevens was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (head of the Metropolitan Police Service) from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief Constable of Northumbria Police before being appointed one of HM Inspectors of Constabulary in September 1996. He was then appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Met in 1998 until his promotion to Commissioner in 2000. Told the Inquiry that he had set out to develop a close relationship with the media.
Editor of the Daily Express at the time of the Inquiry, having worked previously at The Sun, Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday. He supported Express Newspapers' withdrawal from the PCC, in part because of what he perceived as failures by the PCC to intervene over Madeleine McCann stories published in his own newspaper. He would never break the law intentionally, he told the Inquiry.
Editor of the Mail on Sunday at the time of the Inquiry. Wright joined the Daily Mail in 1979, working on various desks before becoming Deputy Editor and then Editor of the Mail on Sunday in 1995. He told the Inquiry that there was strict demarcation between the editorial and commercial functions of the Mail on Sunday and that he felt no commercial pressure. He also said that he would ask a reporter for the source of any story likely to be contentious and that he learnt during the Operation Motorman inquiry that MoS staff were using "inquiry agents", a practice that was subsequently banned.
Journalist since 1989 and Deputy Editor and chief political commentator of The Daily Telegraph at the time of the Inquiry. Six months after resigning his posts at The Telegraph in June 2014, Brogan was appointed group director of public affairs at Lloyds Banking Group. His evidence to the Inquiry centred on professional and ethical standards. He opposed regulation and believed internal scrutiny and “the most experienced journalists in Britain” were sufficient to guarantee “accuracy, fairness, balance and legality”.
