Filkin returns to probe relations between press and police

The former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has been given a prominent role in the Government’s response to the phone-hacking scandal.

Elizabeth Filkin proved to be a highly divisive figure when she was charged with investigating allegations of wrongdoing by MPs between 1999 and 2002.

There were jeers from MPs when Theresa May announced her return to public life in the Commons on Monday.

The Home Secretary said Mrs Filkin “has provisionally agreed to examine the ethical considerations that should in future underline the relationships between the Metropolitan Police and the media – how to ensure maximum transparency and public confidence, and provide advice”.

Mrs May said the review of guidelines is due to take place ahead of the public inquiry led by Lord Justice Leveson into the phone hacking scandal.

The management board of the Met has agreed a new set of guidelines relating to relationships with the media. Theresa May

She added: “The management board of the Met has agreed a new set of guidelines relating to relationships with the media, including recording meetings and hospitality and publication of information on the internet.”

Mrs Filkin’s intervention into the phone hacking scandal marks a remarkable comeback for a civil servant whose record as Parliamentary Commissioner sharply divided MPs.

Read more: PM delays recess for phone-hack questions

During her time in office she investigated the then Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson, fellow Labour minister John Reid, former Conservative prime minister John Major and ex-Tory leader William Hague.

But it was the rancour that surrounded her dealing with prominent Labour backbencher Keith Vaz that created the most controversy.

Mr Vaz is set to take a prominent role in grilling key witnesses including Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and John Yates in his role of Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday.

It was an investigation by Mrs Filkin that led to Mr Vaz being suspended from the House of Commons for a month in 2002.

He apologised to MPs after the Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges found that he had made false allegations against a former policewoman, and had refused to co-operate with Mrs Filkin’s attempt to investigate various allegations against him.

She can’t be bribed, she can’t be bought, she can’t be bullied. Peter Bottomley MP

After she left office in 2002, Mrs Filkin Claimed she had been the victim of a “whispering campaign” after making too many enemies.

Betty Boothroyd, who had hired her as Commissioner for Standards while she was the Commons Speaker, called Mrs Filkin a “witch-hunter” who courted publicity in her autbiography.

She told the BBC that senior politicians of all parties as well as civil servants had briefed journalists to write hostile stories about her shortly after she took up the job, and before she had published her first report about Peter Mandelson’s financial affairs.

Conservative MP Peter Bottomley, who called for Mrs Filkin to keep her job in 2002, told Channel 4 News: “The public interest will be well served by her being chosen.

“She can’t be bribed, she can’t be bought, she can’t be bullied.”