With a weekly readership of around 4 million, the editor of News of the World, Rebekah Wade, is one of the most influential women in Britain. When she took the editorial decision to print the names and whereabouts of 46 known paedophiles, in the middle of the public outrage over the death of Sarah Payne, she effectively mobilised dozens of avenging lynch mobs across Britain. No wonder The Observer considers her the 71st most powerful person in the country, coming just after the head of the Civil Service. (She was also named the 54th most important person in the media by The Guardian).

Her rise to fame from tabloid hack to media mogul has been unstoppable; the depth and scale of her ambition are generally considered quite breathtaking. After deciding she wanted to be a journalist at 14, Rebekah went to work weekends on Eddie Shah’s Messenger titles in Warrington, teaching herself to write by ‘looking over the shoulders of the reporters’. She joined the News of the World in 1989 as a secretary and rose from feature writing (sidestepping the gruesome, door-stepping aspects of the reporter’s job), through junior executive status on the Sunday magazine, to deputy editor.

In 1998, Rupert Murdoch, recognising a fellow trooper, recruited her onto the Sun as deputy, beginning her grooming as editor-in-waiting. Known as an ace fixer, Rebekah had a reputation for being able to charm the devil himself into a head-to-head with Jesus Christ, and is said to be personal friends with the Blairs. Straight-talking Rebekah saved the paper many embarrassing moments, such as pulling a bogus story about the Beast of Bodmin at the eleventh hour. She is also responsible for modifying Page 3’s worst excesses.