Nick Wilkinson

Rear-Admiral Nick Wilkinson, 64, a recently retired secretary of the D-Notice Committee - which provides the media with guidance on covering security matters - joined the Press Complaints Commission on 1 July 2005, replacing Arthur Hearnden.

He was expected to be followed a year later by Ian Nichol, 50, an accountant and member of the criminal cases review commission, who would replace Bishop John Waine.

The PCC has 10 public or "lay" members without any connections to newspapers or magazines alongside its seven representatives from the newspaper industry. They are appointed by an independent appointments commission following public advertisement and interview:

"In Nick Wilkinson and Ian Nichol, the appointments commission has found two rigorously independent individuals who will bring a great deal of experience, and differing perspectives, to the commission's work," said the PCC chairman, Sir Christopher Meyer.

The PCC's seven press members are Roger Alton, the editor of the Observer; Edmund Curran, the editor of the Belfast Telegraph; Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail; Jane Ennis, the editor of Now magazine, Peter Hill, the editor of the Daily Express; Paul Horrocks, the editor of the Manchester Evening News; and Charles McGhee, the editor of the Glasgow Evening Times.