Frédéric Michel, the sophisticate brought in to professionalise lobbying at News Corporation, is coolly preparing to give evidence to the Leveson inquiry on Thursday. Those who have seen him this week say he shows surprisingly few signs of nerves, and Michel is already focused on his press coverage, trying to find out who is likely to write about him. Supporters of the anglicised Frenchman have been in touch with Monkey to say that he will absolutely go back to his lobbying job with News Corp in Brussels assuming his appearance before the judge goes smoothly, even if some in the company were surprised by the volume and tone of the emails he sent. Michel is expected to simply insist he was doing his job for a demanding boss, that he derived his information from Jeremy Hunt's special adviser Adam Smith (not the minister himself). Allies bet he can give an assured performance in public too. As so many people say, Michel was a confident networker, drinking champagne and joking volubly with Ed Miliband – no less – at Rupert Murdoch's summer party, last June less than a month before the Milly Dowler hacking story broke.
