Has the golden boy lost his lustre?
For three years now, Andy Coulson has reigned as the golden boy of Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper empire. Robert Thomson, editor of The Times, is close to KRM (as Keith Rupert Murdoch is known to his friends) and shares the big boss’s passion for business. Many predict he will soon be rewarded with a big global management role. John Witherow, editor of the Sunday Times, is regarded as a steady hand; Rebekah Wade, editor of the Sun, as the daughter who proved a bit of a disappointment. Across the Atlantic, the New York Post has been lively under Col Allan. But it was Andy Coulson, a fire-in-the-belly operator with a brilliant nous for news and a head for figures, who was the favourite son. “Andy” as everyone calls the personable Coulson, had scored some huge scoops: David Blunkett’s affair with Kimberly Fortier, David Beckham’s affair with Rebecca Loos, Sven-Goran Eriksson’s affair with Faria Alam. He was sure to replace Rebekah Wade when the Sun’s circulation slipped under three million. A
