Andy Coulson and his Conservative Party Severance Pay

I just had this sent to me by one of my readers:

I noticed something suspiciously evasive in Andy Coulson’s evidence to Leveson.
In his written witness statement p13, he says

When I entered government my [£440k+] contract with the Conservative Party was terminated and I was paid a lump sum.

 In his oral evidence pp 76-77, he was asked:

Q. Okay. You go to Downing Street in May 2010. I've been asked to put to you this question, Mr Coulson: your salary was cut to £140,000 a year, wasn't it?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you explore whether it was possible for private donors to top up your salary?
A. No.
Q. I think it's implicit in that answer that your salary was not topped up by private donors?
A. Not by private donors, no.
As I say in my statement, there was a notice payment paid to me as part of my Conservative contract.

So, did Coulson's lump sump severance from his £440k+ Conservative Party job compensate him for his £140k+ No 10 government contract salary? If so, how was it funded? If not private donors, general party income? corporate donors?

Something to think about, and speaking of Coulson's evidence the Sturdyblog has also picked up on something that's worth a read.

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com