Andrew Gilligan
Andrew Gilligan | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 22, 1968 Teddington, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Political strategist, journalist |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Known for | Transport adviser to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak; senior correspondent at The Sunday Times; London cycling commissioner; report on British government intelligence dossier on Iraq WMDs |
Andrew Paul Gilligan (born 22 November 1968) is a British political strategist and ex-journalist. He has worked as a special adviser to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, having earlier served as a transport adviser to Boris Johnson during his periods as Mayor of London and later as Prime Minister. Presently, he is a senior fellow and leads the transport, infrastructure, and London division at the think tank Policy Exchange.
Up until July 2019, Gilligan was the senior correspondent at The Sunday Times and directed the Capital City Foundation at Policy Exchange. From 2013 to 2016, he held the role of London’s cycling commissioner, and in 2020, he was appointed by the Central Government to the Board of Transport for London (TfL). He gained significant recognition for a 2003 report on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, which revealed the British government’s embellished intelligence dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, profoundly influencing public debate.
Gilligan received the Journalist of the Year award in 2008 for his investigative work on Ken Livingstone and was again shortlisted in 2015 for investigations that contributed to the political downfall of Lutfur Rahman. His honors include nominations for the Paul Foot Award, the Orwell Prize, British Journalism Awards, and Foreign Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards.
Early life and education
Born in Teddington, London, Gilligan was raised by Catholic parents Kevin and Ann. Kevin, a former Labour Party councillor, graduated from University College London. Andrew studied history at St John's College, Cambridge, after attending Grey Court School and Kingston College of Further Education. While at Cambridge, he served as news editor for the student paper Varsity and was an active member of the Cambridge Universities Labour Club.
Career
Gilligan began his journalism career in 1994 with the Cambridge Evening News, before moving in 1995 to The Sunday Telegraph as a defence correspondent. By 1999, he was BBC Radio 4's Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent on the Today programme. In May 2003, he asserted that the British Government had overstated intelligence regarding Saddam Hussein’s weapons capabilities.
Following criticism during the Hutton Inquiry into the death of David Kelly, Gilligan resigned from the BBC in 2004 after Lord Hutton questioned his testimony. Subsequently, editor Boris Johnson recruited him to The Spectator, and later that year he joined the staff at London Evening Standard. His reporting on the London Mayoral elections earned him Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2008.
Between 2007 and 2009, Gilligan hosted a programme on Press TV, Iran’s English-language government channel, but ceased regular appearances due to political disagreements. In 2009, he became London editor for both The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, while also contributing to Channel 4’s investigative series Dispatches. Additionally, he has acted as a stand-in presenter for LBC radio.
In November 2011, Gilligan voiced criticism of the Leveson Inquiry before the House of Lords communications committee. Appointed Cycling Commissioner for London by Mayor Boris Johnson in January 2013 amid allegations of "cronyism," he played a key role in introducing London’s first segregated cycle superhighways and received recognition from the London Cycling Campaign. After layoffs at The Daily Telegraph in 2016, he transitioned to The Sunday Times.
In 2019, Gilligan joined Downing Street’s policy unit as transport adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The following year, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps appointed him as a Special Representative attendee on Transport for London's Board.
In March 2023, Gilligan assumed the role of special adviser to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Reports suggest he was instrumental in convincing Sunak to cancel the northern section of the High Speed 2 railway scheme. By July 2024, he had returned to Policy Exchange as head of transport, infrastructure, and London.
Controversy
In May 2016, The Telegraph issued a formal apology and agreed to pay significant damages through an out-of-court agreement to resolve defamation claims stemming from inaccurate allegations made by Gilligan. These claims involved accusations of corruption concerning the acquisition of Poplar Town Hall by entrepreneur Mujibul Islam from Tower Hamlets Council during Rahman’s tenure as mayor.
In May 2018, The Sunday Telegraph also settled a defamation lawsuit by paying considerable damages to Mohammed Kozbar. The case originated from a March 2016 article written by Gilligan that accused Kozbar of endorsing Palestinian violence. Despite the settlement, Gilligan stood by his original assertions.
In January 2019, the Independent Press Standards Organisation mandated that The Sunday Times publish a correction after determining that a July 2018 article by Gilligan regarding transgender legislation was "misleading."
External links
- Gilligan's personal blog
- Column archive at Greenwich.co.uk
- Column archive at The Telegraph
- Column archive at the London Evening Standard