The lawyer who represented Rebekah Brooks when she was accused of involvement in phone-hacking has been made general counsel for News UK.

Angus McBride is currently a partner at law firm Kingsley Napley. His new role includes overseeing all legal activity and compliance for the News UK – which changed its name from News International in 2013 in the wake of phone-hacking allegations which led to the closure of the News of the World.

News UK chief executive Brooks said: "When I first spoke to Angus last autumn about joining us in this capacity, he was reluctant to give up the work that he loves.