The Rt Rev John Waine joins the Press Complaints Commission

The former Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev John Waine, today joins the Press Complaints Commission as one of its nine lay members.

Lord Wakeham, Chairman of the PCC, announced the appointment and said that Bishop Waine would bring a ‘wealth of pastoral experience to the work of the Commission. Along with the lay members from other walks of life, he will play a vital role in our deliberations.’

The Rt Rev Waine was Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich from 1978 to 1986 and then of Chelmsford from 1986 to 1996. He was from 1996 the Clerk of the Closet to the Queen. Since 1995 he has also been Chairman of the Council at the University of Essex.

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For information

1. There are sixteen members of the Press Complaints Commission – which has an independent lay majority on it.

2. Members of the Commission are themselves appointed by an independent Appointments Commission. The five Members of the Appointments Commission are Lord Wakeham, Sir Denys Henderson, Sir Geoffrey Holland, Harry Roche, and Lord Irvine of Lairg QC (who resigned from the Appointments Commission when he became Lord Chancellor in May 1997).

3. Bishop Waine replaces Jenny Brown, Literature Director of the Scottish Arts Council, who served for four years on the Press Complaints Commission