L83 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Disclosure of Media Contacts

Recommendation

Party Leaders, Ministers and Front Bench Opposition spokesmen should consider publishing: (a) the simple fact of long term relationships with media proprietors, newspaper editors or senior executives which might be thought to be relevant to their responsibilities and, (b) on a quarterly basis: i. details of all meetings with media proprietors, newspaper editors or senior executives, whether in person or through agents on either side, and the fact and general nature of any discussion of media policy issues at those meetings; and ii. a fair and reasonably complete picture, by way of general estimate only, of the frequency or density of other interaction (including correspondence, phone, text and email) but not necessarily including content.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to Official government response (2012-11-29) and Independent evidence (2025-02-27), Ministers publish quarterly returns detailing meetings with media proprietors, editors, and senior executives via Cabinet Office transparency data, a practice in place since 2010. According to Independent evidence (2025-02-27), however, this disclosure is inconsistent and does not fully cover all forms of interaction, such as texts, informal contact, or phone calls, as recommended by Leveson.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation asks for cultural or behavioural change, which is difficult to verify objectively. The assessment is based on policy commitments, not measured outcomes.
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted UK Government
29 Nov 2012

The Prime Minister stated on 29 November 2012: "On the Government's behalf I can say that we accept that recommendation" regarding disclosure of interaction between politicians and the press. Ministerial transparency data on meetings with media proprietors, editors, and senior executives has been published quarterly since 2010. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/david-cameron-statement-in-response-to-the-leveson-inquiry-report

Read Full Response
Note: PM David Cameron responded to all 92 recommendations with a single statement accepting them "in principle" or "in part". No per-recommendation response was published.
Published Evidence

Published assessments of implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Reasonable Progress
27 Feb 2025
Government / Political parties Other

Ministers publish quarterly returns of meetings with media proprietors, editors and senior executives through the Cabinet Office transparency data. However the disclosure is inconsistent and does not fully cover all forms of interaction (texts, informal contact, phone calls) as Leveson recommended. Opposition front bench disclosure is not systematic.

View detailed findings

Ministerial media meeting disclosure exists but is incomplete. The full picture of interaction including correspondence, phone, text and email that Leveson recommended is not consistently published.

Cabinet Office transparency returns View Source
Source
Report An Inquiry into the Culture, Practices and Ethics of the Press 29 Nov 2012
Responsible Bodies
Politicians Primary
Recommendation age 13.3 yrs
Last formal update 4863 days ago