Rebekah Brooks appointed chief executive of Murdoch's News UK operation

Appointment: Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks back in 2010
Barry Batchelor/PA
Gareth Vipers2 September 2015

Rebekah Brooks has been appointed chief executive of Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper empire News UK, which publishes of The Sun, The Times and Sunday Times.

The former News of the World editor, who was tried during last year’s phone-hacking trial, will take charge next Monday.

The announcement confirms the return of Brooks to the heart of Murdoch's business after she was cleared of all charges in the phone-hacking trial last year.

Robert Thomson, chief executive of parent company News Corp, said: "Her expertise, excellence and leadership will be crucial as we work to extend our relationship with readers and advertisers, and develop our digital platforms to take full advantage of our brilliant journalism."

Ms Brooks said: "I am delighted to return to News UK. It is a privilege to be back amongst the most talented journalists and executives in the business.

"I am confident that we can meet the many challenges of this digital age with a combination of cutting edge technologies and world class journalism."

Former Daily Telegraph editor Tony Gallagher will become editor of The Sun, Britain's largest-selling daily newspaper, the company said.

Ms Brooks was cleared of all charges following the 138-day hacking trial at the Old Bailey, as was Stuart Kuttner, the former managing editor of the now defunct NoTW tabloid.

But Andy Coulson, another former editor of the newspaper who went on to become David Cameron's director of communications, was convicted and handed an 18-month prison sentence.

Former NoTW journalists Greg Miskiw, Neville Thurlbeck, James Weatherup and Ian Edmondson pleaded guilty to their role in the hacking, along with private detective Glenn Mulcaire.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in