Andrew Gilligan

Andrew Gilligan   (journalist, radio presenter)
Born	Andrew Paul Gilligan 22 November 1968
London editor for the Sunday Telegraph

Andrew Gilligan is London editor for the Sunday Telegraph and a former radio presenter at the BBC.

Dodgy dossier

In May 2003, Gilligan produced a report on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme in which he said a "senior official" had told him that a British government briefing paper on Iraq's alleged WMD had been "sexed up" (the Dodgy dossier). On 10 July 2003, Dr David Kelly was revealed to have been Gilligan's source. Dr Kelly was found dead on 17 July 2003.

In his January 2004 report, Lord Hutton said it was impossible to know exactly what Dr Kelly had told Gilligan but said the allegation that the government had "sexed up" the dossier with a claim about Iraq's weapons capability it knew to be untrue, was "unfounded":

"It may be that when he met Mr Gilligan, Dr Kelly said more to him than he had intended to say."

But Lord Hutton said "uncertainties" arising from Gilligan's evidence to the Hutton Inquiry and the existence of two versions of notes from the journalist's meeting with Dr Kelly, meant he could not be definite about the pair's conversation.

Digging the dirt

In 2008, Andrew Gilligan was awarded Journalist of the Year for his investigative reports about Ken Livingstone. Gilligan's articles about Livingstone, his associates and the running of the London Development Agency were said to have inflicted serious damage on the Labour candidate and his election campaign, allowing Boris Johnson to seize the mayoralty.

In 2012, Gilligan played another prominent role, airing accusations about Livingstone's tax arrangements which seriously hampered his ill-fated mayoral campaign.

Boris biker

In 2013, Mayor Boris Johnson appointed Andrew Gilligan to be London's Cycling Commissioner. Len Duvall, leader of the Labour group on the London Assembly, said:

"Boris's arrogance apparently knows no bounds. He is going to appoint someone with no experience of making transport or cycling policy to a senior paid position at City Hall. This is truly startling. It looks like Boris has just appointed one of his friends without any independent evaluation of his skills or suitability for the post."

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:The Death of David Kelly and the "Sexed Up" WMD Report	article	21 February 2008	Stephen Frost David Halpin Christopher Burns-Cox Paul Brandon

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