The minister who initiates the inquiry appoints an inquiry chair. In this case the Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield, has been appointed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.  Interestingly, Dr Wilcox will be the only chair of a current inquiry who is <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/public-inquiries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not a current or former lawyer or judge</a>. Though, this is not the first time a Chair has come from a non-legal background as the Rt Rev James Jones KBE was Chair of the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

Dr Wilcox will lead a panel of relevant experts who will hear from a number of “core participants” – people or organisations who play a key role in the inquiry and who are entitled to make opening and closing statements at hearings, ask questions of witnesses (with permission from the Chair), see relevant evidence and review a draft report produced prior to its publication. As well as those entitlements, those applying for core participant status can expect an increased level of public scrutiny about their involvement in the events considered by the inquiry. The core participants for the Orgreave inquiry have not yet been named but are likely to include, amongst others, the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, the National Union of Mineworkers, South Yorkshire police and possibly senior individuals within the police.