Special advisers and the ‘phone-hacking’ scandal

One of the many issues involving the functioning of UK democracy raised by the phone hacking/police corruption scandal is that of the role of the special adviser in Whitehall. An important facet of this affair, underlining claims of an inappropriate closeness between the ‘Murdoch press’ and politicians, involves Andy Coulson, Editor of the News of the World from 2003-2007. During his tenure at the tabloid – though he denied knowledge of it – phone hacking took place, and he resigned from the paper early in 2007 following the prosecution of its former Royal Editor, Clive Goodman. In this post, Andrew Blick argues that the phone hacking scandal creates fresh impetus to look at the process by which Special Advisers are appointed.