The Hack: Where is Andy Coulson now? The former News of the World editor who graced 10 Downing Street

If you’re looking for an unmissable drama, ITV has plenty for insatiable viewers to spool through. The Hack is the latest must-see series in their true-crime oeuvre; from the creators of Mr Bates vs The Post Office and the writer of Adolescence, the eight-part series looks at two intercepting tales of tabloid chicanery, leading to how the noughties phone hacking scandal was uncovered (which ultimately brought down the infamous News of the World).

At the heart of this tale is investigative journalist Nick Davies (played by David Tennant) who decided to doggedly pursue the story after Andy Coulson, former News of the World editor, who had been appointed as Director of Communications to Prime Minister David Cameron, giving him access to the higher echelons of power.

But what happened to Coulson after news of widespread phone hacking broke? Cosmopolitan UK looks at what the infamous editor is up to now.

Unlike many journalists and editors, who attended top private schools and the likes of Oxford/Cambridge, Coulson had a relatively normal upbringing; attending a regular comprehensive school in Essex before joining the Basildon Echo aged just 18 as a junior reporter in 1986. Two years later, he moved to The Sun, where he worked on the Bizarre showbiz pages alongside then-showbiz editor Piers Morgan. After a brief nine week sequester at rival paper Daily Mail in 1994, he returned to edit The Sun’s Bizarre column. He was promoted to deputy editor of News of the World in 2000, before becoming editor (and replacing the similarly infamous Rebekah Brooks in 2003).

Coulson was proud of his tabloid lineage, despite their somewhat down-market reputation.

“These stories, the campaigns we run, the way we represent our readers on important issues, I think are something to be proud of,” he previously told the Press Gazette.

“Tabloid newspapers in this country do more for its people than any other newspapers in the world.”

In 2007, royal reporter Clive Goodman was sentenced to four months in prison for illegally intercepting phone messages from Clarence House (where voicemails belonging to Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton were all thought to have been exposed). Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire was also jailed for six months for pleading guilty for the same charges.

As a result, Coulson resigned as editor – but claimed in the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in 2009 that this was just the work of a ‘rogue reporter’.

“Things went badly wrong under my editorship of the News of the World,” he said at the time.

“I deeply regret it. I suspect I always will. I take the blame because ultimately it was my responsibility. I am not looking for sympathy and I am unlikely to get any today.

“If a rogue reporter decides to behave in that fashion, I am not sure there is an awful lot more I could have done.”

In 2010, after David Cameron became Prime Minister, Coulson was appointed as Director of Communications (and was reportedly paid £140,000 for the role).

While Cameron faced criticism for the appointment at the time, he defended Coulson.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the former Prime Minister said: “I almost think there is a danger at the moment that he is effectively being punished twice for the same offence. I judge his work by what he has done for us ... I gave him a second chance. I think in life sometimes it's right to give someone a second chance. He resigned for what went wrong at News of the World. I would just argue working for the government, I think he has done a good job.

“Of course he was embarrassed, but he has had a second chance from me to do this job. I think he has done the job in a very good way.”

However, it became clear that Coulson’s position in government was untenable, after an in-depth investigation by the New York Times reported that the ‘dark arts’ of phone hacking was widespread – and Coulson actively encouraged this practice (Coulson staunchly denied this at the time. He even denied this in 2010 when he was a witness at the trial of Tommy Sheridan, the former Scottish Socialist party leader, who was accused of lying on oath that same year).

However, in 2012, Coulson was charged for "conspiring to intercept communications without lawful authority from 3 October 2000 to 9 August 2006” (effectively, the widespread use of phone-hacking during his tenure as Editor at the News of the World).

Coulson was found guilty at court for one charge of conspiracy to intercept voicemails, and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. However, he only served five (and was then forced to wear an electronic tag for another four months).

Recalling his time in Belmarsh in a recent interview, he recalled watching “more Homes Under the Hammer than is healthy.”

Coulson was also set to face a retrial, together with Clive Goodman, after the jury failed to agree a verdict on two other charges of conspiring to cause misconduct in public office – however, in 2015, the Crown Prosecution Service scrapped the retrial.

Coulson was also set to face trial for perjury after the 2010 trial of Tommy Sheridan. However, the judge, Lord Burns, chose to acquit Coulson.

In January 2016, Coulson launched a new corporate PR agency, titled Coulson Chappell, which provided strategy advice as well as reputation and crisis management for those with high profiles. Coulson is still running this company to this day.

In an interview with Influence, Coulson explained about his new role: “I thought people going through difficulties need people who’ve been there to give advice.

“People often see it as being manipulative in some way. But who doesn’t want to have a good reputation? It’s a positive endeavour and makes commercial sense. Sadly, conversations around reputation management often arrive too late because it’s not central to the business in the way it should be.

“I enjoy doing crisis comms work because I lived it. And what I offer, of course, is that there is no agenda. You’ve got to have people around you who have no skin in the game.”

And while he expresses regret for his part in the phone hacking saga, he is keen to move on.

“I’ll always take opportunities to apologise for what happened at the News of the World,” he said. “But what I won’t apologise for is getting on with my life and making the most of what’s left.”

Kimberley Bond

Multiplatform Writer

Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper’s Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.