( CNN ) -- There had to be something special about Rebekah Brooks . Here was a woman , after all , who managed to be a close friend of Tony and Cherie Blair , then a friend ( perhaps less close and more briefly ) of Gordon and Sarah Brown , and then a very close ( `` lots of love '' ) friend of David and Samantha Cameron . Given the personality differences between those involved , and given their political differences , it is at least surprising that any one person could be cosy with them all . And for one woman to overcome the jealousy and suspicion of Brown towards a former chum of Blair , and then of Cameron towards a former chum of Brown and Blair , is nothing short of remarkable . Looking back , it is hard to avoid the conclusion either that this woman was so powerful that politicians felt they had no choice but to clasp her to their bosoms , or that she was so amazingly nice and such utterly marvelous company that anybody would want her at their dinner table . Giving evidence to Lord Justice Leveson 's inquiry on her relations with politicians , Brooks did her very best to show us her amazingly nice and marvelous side -- even in the teeth of some pretty niggling questions from Robert Jay QC . Demure and tidy beneath the famous mop of hair , she was polite and well-spoken , and always -- Andy Coulson-like -- controlled . But she also strove to appear warm , helpful and honorable . Where Jay tried to provoke , she smiled . When he pushed her towards a corner , she became engagingly baffled by his perversity . Her friendships were just normal , she implied . How often did she send text messages to the prime minister ? `` I would text Mr Cameron , on occasion -- like a lot of people . '' Like you and me , perhaps . Her persistent forgetfulness about almost anything substantive was , her expression implied , normal too . Who remembers this kind of stuff ? As for influencing politicians , everything she did , she suggested , was driven by her loyalty not to Rupert Murdoch but to The Sun 's millions of readers , whom she could not or would not distinguish from `` the nation '' or `` the country . '' She acted `` for the paper and for the readership , '' and insofar as she had power it was as a kind of embodiment of her readers . So when she ( or The Sun ) did something tough , as they did more than once to Gordon Brown , she wanted us to know that it was done for high-minded reasons , and with pain in her heart . Notably when The Sun dumped Brown on the morning after his annual party conference speech in 2009 , the timing was not , she said , designed to maximize damage , but to allow Brown a final opportunity to impress Sun readers in the speech . She also told us she tried to ring Brown just ahead of publication to warn him , as a `` general courtesy '' and because it was `` the right thing to do . '' When The Sun published a story about the health of the Browns ' son , it was all done in the nicest possible way , and if the couple had had reservations she would have spiked it . All of this Jay greeted with an air of skepticism , but Brooks 's message was clear : `` Look at me . I 'm nice . '' What could be more natural than the Blairs , Browns and Camerons all falling in turn for such charms ? Maybe you would too . Mince pies and mulled wine in your Oxfordshire retreat ? Invite Rebekah . Girls ' slumber party at Chequers ? Invite Rebekah . But of course it ca n't be natural , as Lord Justice Leveson himself stepped in to remind us . In one of his several pertinent interventions he spoke to Brooks of `` relationships you have been careful to develop for professional reasons , and doubtless coincidentally for personal reasons , over the years . '' Those words `` doubtless coincidentally '' carry a vast weight . Even if Rebekah Brooks were Snow White and Mother Teresa rolled into one , nobody could seriously believe that the professional and the personal reasons for her friendships with political leaders just happened to coincide . And Brooks is nothing like Snow White or Mother Teresa . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Brian Cathcart .
Evidence given by ex - News International executive Rebekah Smith at media inquiry into relations with politicians . Note : Through her evidence she strove to appear warm , helpful and honorable . It was to Cathcart that some of her comments and evidence were greeted with hostility by legal experts .