Episode Overview

Title: The Phone-Hacking Scandal: How Murdoch's UK Empire Fell
Podcast: The Rest Is Politics
Date: October 25, 2025
Hosts: Alastair Campbell (with guest Michael Wolff)

This episode explores Rupert Murdoch’s tumultuous influence over the British media, focusing specifically on the phone-hacking scandal that rocked his UK empire. Alastair Campbell and journalist Michael Wolff dissect the origins, fallout, and ethical implications of the scandal, discuss key political and social repercussions, and reflect on whether it truly marked the beginning of Murdoch’s downfall in Britain.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Murdoch’s Power and the Scandal’s Scope

• Murdoch’s Impact:
  Both hosts acknowledge Murdoch as an unmatched power broker in international media.

  • Michael Wolff: “He holds power longer than anyone else in our time and it’s meaningful power. It’s phenomenal power.” (11:04)
  • Alastair Campbell: “Power without responsibility. The prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.” (11:19)

• Nature of the Scandal:
  The phone-hacking scandal exposed widespread illegal activity within Murdoch’s UK newspapers, notably targeting private individuals, celebrities, political figures, and, with tragic implications, victims of crime and national tragedy.

  • Campbell: “This was industrial illegal activity. And that I think is what really cuts through to the public and thinks you people are really, really bad.” (11:47)

2. The Turning Point: Public Outrage and Political Pressure

• Escalation:
  The scandal reached a moral tipping point when it was discovered that journalists had hacked the voicemails of murder victim Milly Dowler and other vulnerable subjects.

  • Campbell: “Once it was people like me and John Prescott and Hugh Grant, political people, celebrities, they probably didn't really care... When it emerged that Millie Dowler... that they were actually hacking the phones of murdered children... You got to one point where Millie Dowler's parents... didn't know she was dead, were phoning and leaving messages... So they think, oh my God, she's deleting her messages. That's great. That means she's alive.” (03:29–04:50)
  • Wolff: “That’s the point at which this story becomes horrific... This is just human suffering that tabloids make some of their living on.” (05:11)

• Broader Victims:
  Other victims included families of British soldiers killed in Iraq/Afghanistan, bombing victims, and additional murder victims such as Sarah Payne.

  • Campbell: “They’ve been doing it to British soldiers who’ve been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan... the mother of another murder victim, an eight-year-old girl called Sarah Payne. So this is just off the scale.” (05:44)

3. Fallout: Legal, Political, and Institutional Responses

• High-Profile Consequences:

  • James Murdoch forced to resign (06:03).
  • Concerns he could be arrested prompted his quick departure from the UK.
  • Andy Coulson, former News of the World editor, arrested and ultimately imprisoned.
  • Rebekah Brooks, despite being charged (alongside her husband), was acquitted after a protracted trial.
    • Wolff (on the trial): “I sat through that trial actually. I got held in contempt for that trial because I wrote about the trial... I probably said [Brooks] was guilty.” (06:57–07:22)
    • Campbell responds: “You can’t do that, Michael... You are innocent until proven guilty.” (07:28–07:32)

• Political Fallout:
  Public shock catalyzed calls for reform in press ethics.

  • Campbell: “That’s what led to David Cameron... saying we have to have this inquiry into press ethics. And that was the Leveson Inquiry.” (04:50)

• Missed Opportunities:
  The hosts express frustration that Leveson’s recommendations for meaningful press regulation were ultimately watered down or abandoned.

  • Campbell: “It was another win for the press... Leveson 2... was dropped subsequently by the Conservative government... That was a massive missed opportunity and I still think we’re paying a price.” (07:32–08:45)

4. Legacy: Lasting Damage and Declining Tabloid Power

• Tabloid Decline:
  Wolff and Campbell debate whether the tabloid culture retains its power.
  • Wolff: “It’s a broader discussion about whether you think the tabloid press has continued with its particular power, given the fact that the tabloid press is a shadow of what it once was even 15 years ago.” (08:45)
  • Campbell: “That is true. As somebody who comes from a tabloid journalist background, I find that very sad... But I still think our media culture has been very, very badly damaged.” (09:02)
  • The written press still exerts influence over broader media and politics, even in a digital age.

5. Memorable Moments and Candid Commentary

• The Parliamentary Select Committee Incident:
  Campbell recalls the infamous parliamentary hearing, where Murdoch’s wife Wendy Deng protected him from a protester, overshadowing James Murdoch’s ineffective reaction.

  • Campbell: “Wendy standing up and prepared to take this guy on, whereas James... doesn’t quite know what to do.” (02:22)

• Missed Reform:
  The hosts reflect on whether British media culture will ever truly reform given institutional and political resistance.

• On Murdoch’s Vision:

  • Wolff: “There is no Donald Trump without Fox News. His dream was always to elect a president of the United States. The bitter irony is that that turned out to be Donald Trump, a man he detests.” (12:05)

6. Looking Ahead

• The episode concludes with a teaser for the next discussion: Murdoch’s impact on American media, the ascent of Fox News, and its relationship with Donald Trump.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Alastair Campbell:

  • “If you can match the reputational damage to the financial damage, I could see that it might have done.” (02:22)
  • “That I think is what really cuts through to the public and thinks, you people are really, really bad.” (04:50)
  • “I am by now... absolutely convinced this is the moment at which this wretched media culture in our country has to be changed and Cameron has the opportunity to do it.” (07:32)
  • “I still think our media culture has been very, very badly damaged.” (09:02)

• Michael Wolff:

  • “This story becomes horrific... This is just human suffering that tabloids make some of their living on.” (05:11)
  • “James is not only, not only resigns, he's basically forced out…they have to get him out of the country as fast as possible.” (06:03)
  • “There is always a lot at every point in Murdoch’s career.” (09:41)
  • “There is no Donald Trump without Fox News. His dream was always to elect a president of the United States. The bitter irony is that that turned out to be Donald Trump, a man he detests.” (12:05)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Murdoch’s downfall and the Select Committee – 02:20–03:29
• Milly Dowler revelations and the breaking point – 03:29–05:11
• Phone-hacking victims beyond celebrities – 05:44–06:03
• James Murdoch resigns, legal fallout – 06:03–06:57
• Rebekah Brooks’s trial and contempt incident – 06:57–07:32
• The Leveson Inquiry and political response – 04:50, 07:32–08:45
• Decline of tabloids and lingering media damage – 08:45–09:41
• Murdoch’s lasting influence and teaser for next episode – 10:06–12:29

Conclusion

Campbell and Wolff offer a frank and broad-ranging analysis of the phone-hacking scandal, its disastrous human and political consequences, and the inability (or unwillingness) of British institutions to fundamentally reform press practices. While the tabloid press may have diminished, its toxic legacy and cultural influence persist. The episode sets the scene for an equally provocative follow-up tackling Murdoch’s American empire and the Fox News effect.