'Mr Coulson was appointed Director of Communications for the Conservative Party in May 2007, and took up his post in July, implying that he was receiving large amounts from News International up to five months after he joined the staff of the Tory party.

A Conservative Party spokesman said last night that party managers did not know this at the time. "Senior party officials have no knowledge of Andy Coulson's severance arrangements," she said.

But the discovery that Mr Coulson was acting as Mr Cameron's adviser on handling the media at the same time as he was receiving payments from the country's largest media organisations, has raised new questions about the relationship between David Cameron and the Murdoch empire.'

Read more: Coulson 'Paid by Murdoch While Working for Cameron