But I didnt have that because I knew that there would be one, possibly two more trials when I came out of Belmarsh. Andy: I think I would, to be honest, yeah, because Im just not outraged enough by much any more. Jane: And I was going to say, in hindsight would you have taken that job? When you resigned, did you feel the sense of the crisis that was about to come your way at that point? Because then you know actually, its not just a matter of getting through this, Im into it all over again. Im certainly not proud of the mistakes that I made from a personal perspective. And that is, I have to say, largely thanks to Eloise because shes, maybe well get on to it, the reason I got through is her. That must have felt weird, being the focus of the media storm? Some of them not even necessarily related to the stuff weve been talking about here, its just life. Fair enough, really. We talk about it and funnily enough they, it would be wrong to say that they laugh about it, but they found some aspects of it quite fascinating. Jane: I remember coming to see you with Eloise and the boys and you all sort of sit in a gymnasium, dont you? All the old clichs are clichs for a reason and that kind of what doesnt kill you makes you stronger I think is true from the individual point of view, but I think it is also true from a family point of view. There are dogs and there are searches and its another one of those sort of movie scenes. I think he had people advising him at that stage, obviously. Trusted, high impact counsel, campaigns and crisis management for leaders, from Andy Coulson, Jon Steafel, Susan Adams and team. Early life. Its proper drama. The main thing for me is that bitterness bullet, youve just got to keep dodging it, because bitterness really does send you only one way, it will only ever send you backwards. Ive got very used to that. But this kind of disconnection from family, whatever the circumstances, is just a fundamental negative. [39], As the Conservative Party's director of communications, Coulson continued to be subjected to allegations that he was aware of the hacking of phones while serving as the editor of News of the World. Ask me if I felt I should have been convicted and the answer is obviously no because I pleaded not guilty. Which do you think it was? In an interview with the Press Gazette in 2005, he said that "Tabloid newspapers in this country do more for its people than any other newspapers in the world". The most common refrain was Its not like the House of Commons, is it Andy?. Andy: I dont know the answer to that. I have to say, everyone through that process, the prison officers down in the cells at the Old Bailey, could not have been, frankly, more friendly. This article is more than 8 years old Andy Coulson, the criminal who had David Cameron's confidence Former No 10 spin doctor is found guilty of hacking charge while Rebekah Brooks is cleared of. Andy Coulson is the former spokesman for No 10 who reached the highest levels of his profession - before coming crashing down as a result of the phone-hacking scandal. And I made mistakes in my personal life as well, and so Ive never at any point felt why me? about it because thats just not how I feel. Jane: And when they came to visit Belmarsh, because a lot of people listening to this will never have been to a Category A prison, even to visit, why is that your regret? Its hopeless. And my parents are grafters, that was always very clear. Im absolutely sure that Im a better advisor as a result of what happened. "[29][30], In July 2011 questions were raised about Coulson's security vetting at Number Ten. You pull up and the gates open and you know youre going to prison, youre in no doubt that youre going to prison. Having to ring Eloise and say, its not just about getting through this prison sentence, we are going to do it all over again, that was probably the worst moment. The judge actually criticised the timing of the statement and said he was unsure whether it was out of ignorance or deliberate. He attended Beauchamps High School, a secondary school and sixth form college, from 1979 to 1986. Jane: So you just sort of top up when you need it? [16][17] This trial started on 11 May 2015 because of the general election. Coulson was name-checked by Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) in an episode of This Time with Alan Partridge (Series 02, Episode 02) during an introduction to a segment about law and order. Jane: Are you still friends? On 21 November 2014, Coulson was released from prison having served less than five months of his 18-month prison sentence. I felt it was a bit on the steep side but it was within the parameters, so its up to the judge, the sentencing in technical terms. I mean thats why I think I have instinctively never really taken that sort of approach because I dont much like that. [34], On 7 February 2011, Coulson and his wife established 'Elbrus Consultants Ltd'. Prison is a, very obviously, stark place but it is also packed with emotion. Jane: Well that was sort of going to be my next question, because undoubtedly your role at Downing Street heightened the interest in your trial. We were doing, it sounds ridiculous, Dragons Den presentations of ideas for what they were going to do when they got released, and mock interviews. [27], After David Cameron became Prime Minister in May 2010, he appointed Coulson as Director of Communications for the government at 10 Downing Street. [14] On 30 June 2014, it was announced that he would face a retrial over two counts of conspiring to cause misconduct in public office in relation to the alleged purchase of confidential royal phone directories in 2005 from a palace police officer after the jury in the original trial was unable to reach a verdict on them. And I managed to get down just in time and before you know it youre off driving through the city and I just remember looking at the bright blue sky really. Youve got, obviously, a lot of press outside your front door. Andy: Yeah, I dont wear it like a badge but I dont hide it because its true and theres nothing I can do about it now. Thats all nonsense. His brother and co-founder John Collison scored the highest-ever score received by a student for the Irish Leaving Certificate. And the other, in the same way as I have just said that I got enormous enjoyment from the political job, there is also a danger that because my newspaper career ended so badly, that you, sort of, chuck out all the good stuff there. There were mistakes made during my time at the News of the World, without any shadow of a doubt, but my 20s were professionally rewarding, fascinating and fun and newspapers were I cant speak for now because Ive been out of them for so long a very exciting place to be. And keep the smile on my face and move myself and my family forward every day, which is exactly what we do, its exactly our attitude. Jane: I wanted to point out before we really get started that its not really an interview about why you ended up in prison, because obviously the details of the trial can be Googled. One of the principles of prison is that everyone has to be on the same level. And I tried to make the best of it. "[31] According to Chris Bryant MP, senior officials working with Coulson believed that he had the same clearance level as his predecessor. So I rang him and we had a conversation and that led me to say: Look, youve got plenty of friends in your life, you dont need any more friends, thats not what this is about, but if this is going to work we do need to be straight with each other with what you are trying to do here. Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. [2], Coulson started work at 18 as a junior reporter on the Basildon Echo in 1986. Its a wine called Chateau Musar and its from the Lebanon and I chose it because it is really tasty and also because it is liquid proof that there is good to come from crisis, given where this wine is made. [1] He follows Tottenham Hotspur. [42] Coulson has denied these latest claims. The judge added that it was for him, and not the jury, to decide on this aspect of the case and that the Crown's legal submissions had failed to satisfy him that Coulson's evidence had been sufficiently relevant to the Sheridan trial. Hoare speaking on Five Live, Drive, 3 September 2010. Take control of what you actually have control over and, of course, the main thing that you have control over is your own mind-set and your own attitude. And I just thought to myself, how the hell did I end up here? Now, I dont recall seeing one of you. Andy: Well, losing people, like we all have. Discover Andy Coulson's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. The second, I think, would be music, which has also been incredibly important for me and for the family. No one knows in advance. Therefore, the search process before you come in for a visit, as a visitor, is pretty unpleasant. I mean, there were lots of theories at the time. So ask me what my biggest regret is, I would absolutely say it was the decision that I took to have my two oldest sons, not Finn, come and visit me in Belmarsh, because it was only a couple of weeks after that visit that I got moved. When you saw very young men like that in prison, now that your own boys are reaching past adulthood, did you, sort of, connect with them? Dont try and solve it all. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. [19], Coulson grew up in Wickford, Essex. There were so many different things that were unravelling in my life that I realised that if I tried to deal with them all, I would probably go mad. When did you last speak to him? In 1994, he briefly moved to the Daily Mail, but after nine weeks moved back to The Sun to edit Bizarre. And in prison, as I mentioned, there was that book ban and I could not have been more delighted on the day that I finally got into the library at Belmarsh. And suddenly youre sat in one of them. Suddenly youre on trial at the Old Bailey and youre hearing the word guilty; tell us about that moment. Jane: So, there came a point where you thought, OK, I dont know how long Im going to be here. Thats what we have here and obviously for me Im going to say its an imperfect system, but Im certainly not arguing that it should have been done some other way. Jane: You are just talking there about your absolute love of that job at Downing Street. I think it probably did. And although I stand by the position I took in court, in regard to the allegations that I ended up being found guilty of, my view is still that I didnt break the law. A bemused local cabbie found himself sitting in the middle of a cornfield and off we went to the station. [37], In January 2016 Coulson launched a new corporate PR agency offering communications strategy services in partnership with Henry Chappell, Coulson Chappell. Do you think thats fair? Andy, hello. So, they made me an education orderly and I went and worked with a brilliant woman who runs the education programme at Hollesley Bay and I was effectively her teaching assistant, if you like. I never asked for any favours at all from anyone, but what I didnt think was fair was for me to be treated differently. Jane: Because it had been quite a high-profile trial. [22], On 21 July 2009 Coulson appeared in front of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and denied any knowledge of the phone hacking scandal, saying "my instructions to the staff were clear we did not use subterfuge of any kind unless there was a clear public interest in doing so. That Id go from one to the other in custody, if you like. And then the third thing would be what I actually send to every podcast guest, when its appropriate to do so. Big Brother 15 winner Andy Herren has never been shy about sharing his opinion on social media. Andy: No, I prefer not to, really. I remember reading, after I came out, that I had been released after just five months on good behaviour. They take your clothes when you go to prison, which I think is sensible. Andy: Its very hard, this, to get it down to three. Eloise and the boys have to take the gold medal, if you like, for getting me through but there are a whole load who get the silver medal and Im very grateful for it. Its amazing. And it is all about cues and nudges that push you in a certain direction and I just try and avoid those. Coulson's parents moved from their Basildon council house to nearby Wickford during his childhood. Monty was 12? Coulson married his wife, Eloise, in 2000. And then I noticed that the windows of the Serco van that I was in were rose-tinted. Pic credit: CBS. He commented about the News of the World allegations "I stand by what I've said about those events but when the spokesman needs a spokesman it's time to move on. Actually, the most common refrain was Its not like the House of Commons, is it Andy? Not that I was ever an MP. I mean, you've probably faced a few challenges in your life but an eight-month trial at the Old Bailey, followed by prison, is obviously another league. I suppose because the thing was so public and had been so long running, Ellie and I took the view that we werent going to try and attempt to hide any of it from them. And as a result of that I met a large number of prisoners because I was helping them put their CVs together. I was encouraged to stay but I just felt from a practical point of view, because I am of course a resigning recidivist, much in the same way as I felt when I was at the News of the World, how on Earth am I able to sit here and write a leader, criticising that outrage thing again, criticising a politician when Ive got a reporter sat in jail? I quite like the one-in-five theory; that out of five people that you meet, three of them will be indifferent, one will think that youre an absolute superstar and the other one will never want to look you in the face again. And I took the view that this is what it is and it is just another place, a pretty unpleasant one, but its just another place. It was an amazing place to be and it was fascinating and rewarding and I was reasonably good it and I loved my colleagues. Andy: I think if people want to talk about my time at the News of the World, that conversation should always start with an apology and I have apologised several times. All I know is that when I took the job, actually, I said to him, Im taking this job, David, on the basis that I will not go into Downing Street because that was the deal Id done with Eloise. I saw him in January. Jane: So, youve known the power and privilege of being a newspaper editor and advisor to David Cameron. 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