Is Andy Coulson Actually Any Good?

It’s natural for David Cameron and the rest of the Downing Street team to assume he is. There’s a kind of confirmation bias at work since he’s the man tasked with running the government’s communications operation and if he weren’t the best man for the job someone else would be doing it.

Nevertheless, this stuff from Ben Brogan is a little startling. Ben brings us the view that Number 10 thinks Coulson is indispensible and that:

I am told that he is viewed as one of the three most successful occupants of that post, the other two being Bernard Ingham and Alastair Campbell. If you want a measure of the esteem in which he is held by Dave and his Team, it is to hear them elevate Mr Coulson to membership of a trio with the other two recent big beasts to hold that role. He is considered, frankly, irreplaceable, even if those around him must know that no one is.