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News Corp. phone-hacking inquiry: 8 names you need to know

David Cameron

Matt Dunham/AP
Rain drops fall as Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron walks from number 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament in London, Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

  • By Arthur Bright Staff writer

David Cameron is the British prime minister, and has been drawn into the phone-hacking scandal due to his friendship with Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch, raising questions about the influence that News Corp. has within the British government.

April 24 testimony at the Leveson inquiry implicating Jeremy Hunt’s close involvement with News Corp. put No. 10 Downing Street on the defensive – the prime minister’s office issued a public statement of support for Hunt and denied he would be forced to resign. But the testimony further revealed that between 2006 and 2010, Cameron attended over a dozen meetings with James, mostly over meals, according to James’ diary. Conversation topics ran from general social talk to politics to specific endorsement of Cameron’s Conservative party by the Sun, a Murdoch-owned newspaper.

Last month, Mr. Cameron also came under fire for going horseback riding with Brooks’ husband, during which Cameron rode a horse that had been loaned by the Metropolitan police to Rebekah Brooks.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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