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Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Paul Gilligan (born 22 November 1968) is a British political adviser and former journalist. He served as a special adviser to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, having previously worked as a transport adviser to Boris Johnson both as Mayor of London and as Prime Minister. He is now senior fellow and head of transport, infrastructure and London at the think-tank Policy Exchange.
Until July 2019, Gilligan was senior correspondent of The Sunday Times and had also served as head of the Capital City Foundation at Policy Exchange. Between 2013 and 2016 he also worked as the Mayor's cycling commissioner for London, and in 2020 he was an appointee of Central Government to TfL's Board. He is best known for a 2003 report on BBC Radio 4's Today programme in which he described a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction (the September Dossier) as having been "transformed in the week before it was published to make it sexier". This change became widely known, in the words of newspaper headlines about the story, as being "sexed up".
He was awarded Journalist of the Year in 2008 for his investigative reports on Ken Livingstone and was shortlisted for the award again in 2015 for investigations which helped cause the downfall of politician Lutfur Rahman. He has also been a nominee for the Paul Foot Award, the Orwell Prize, the British Journalism Awards and Foreign Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards.
Gilligan was born in Teddington, London, to Catholic parents, Kevin and Ann. Kevin was formerly a Labour Party councillor in Teddington and had graduated from University College London. Andrew was educated at Grey Court School, Kingston College of Further Education and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied history and was news editor of the student newspaper Varsity. He was also a member of Cambridge Universities Labour Club.
In 1994, he joined the Cambridge Evening News, then in 1995 moved to The Sunday Telegraph, where he became a specialist reporter on defence. In 1999, he was recruited by the editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Rod Liddle, as Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent. In May 2003, Gilligan made a broadcast in which he claimed that the British Government had "sexed up" a report in order to exaggerate the weapon of mass destruction capabilities of Saddam Hussein.
Gilligan resigned from the BBC in 2004, in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry surrounding the death of David Kelly, after Lord Hutton questioned the reliability of Gilligan's evidence.
After resigning from the BBC, Gilligan was offered a job at The Spectator by its editor, Boris Johnson, who had been a key supporter of Gilligan during the Hutton Inquiry. Later that year, Gilligan joined the London Evening Standard. He was named Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2008 for his work on the London Mayoral elections, described as "relentless investigative journalism at its best".
Between 2007 and 2009 Gilligan presented a fortnightly programme for Press TV, the Iranian government's English-language TV channel. Rod Liddle challenged Gilligan in July 2009 about working for an "international propaganda channel run by the Iranian government". Gilligan stopped his regular show in December 2009, though he appeared twice more on the network just before the UK's May 2010 general election. Gilligan attributed his decision to leave to the politics of Iran "that was inconsistent with my opposition to Islamism. I have not worked for Press TV since."
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Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Paul Gilligan (born 22 November 1968) is a British political adviser and former journalist. He served as a special adviser to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, having previously worked as a transport adviser to Boris Johnson both as Mayor of London and as Prime Minister. He is now senior fellow and head of transport, infrastructure and London at the think-tank Policy Exchange.
Until July 2019, Gilligan was senior correspondent of The Sunday Times and had also served as head of the Capital City Foundation at Policy Exchange. Between 2013 and 2016 he also worked as the Mayor's cycling commissioner for London, and in 2020 he was an appointee of Central Government to TfL's Board. He is best known for a 2003 report on BBC Radio 4's Today programme in which he described a British government briefing paper on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction (the September Dossier) as having been "transformed in the week before it was published to make it sexier". This change became widely known, in the words of newspaper headlines about the story, as being "sexed up".
He was awarded Journalist of the Year in 2008 for his investigative reports on Ken Livingstone and was shortlisted for the award again in 2015 for investigations which helped cause the downfall of politician Lutfur Rahman. He has also been a nominee for the Paul Foot Award, the Orwell Prize, the British Journalism Awards and Foreign Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards.
Gilligan was born in Teddington, London, to Catholic parents, Kevin and Ann. Kevin was formerly a Labour Party councillor in Teddington and had graduated from University College London. Andrew was educated at Grey Court School, Kingston College of Further Education and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied history and was news editor of the student newspaper Varsity. He was also a member of Cambridge Universities Labour Club.
In 1994, he joined the Cambridge Evening News, then in 1995 moved to The Sunday Telegraph, where he became a specialist reporter on defence. In 1999, he was recruited by the editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Rod Liddle, as Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent. In May 2003, Gilligan made a broadcast in which he claimed that the British Government had "sexed up" a report in order to exaggerate the weapon of mass destruction capabilities of Saddam Hussein.
Gilligan resigned from the BBC in 2004, in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry surrounding the death of David Kelly, after Lord Hutton questioned the reliability of Gilligan's evidence.
After resigning from the BBC, Gilligan was offered a job at The Spectator by its editor, Boris Johnson, who had been a key supporter of Gilligan during the Hutton Inquiry. Later that year, Gilligan joined the London Evening Standard. He was named Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2008 for his work on the London Mayoral elections, described as "relentless investigative journalism at its best".
Between 2007 and 2009 Gilligan presented a fortnightly programme for Press TV, the Iranian government's English-language TV channel. Rod Liddle challenged Gilligan in July 2009 about working for an "international propaganda channel run by the Iranian government". Gilligan stopped his regular show in December 2009, though he appeared twice more on the network just before the UK's May 2010 general election. Gilligan attributed his decision to leave to the politics of Iran "that was inconsistent with my opposition to Islamism. I have not worked for Press TV since."