A confident and unruffled Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday defended his ill-fated decision to make disgraced tabloid editor Andy Coulson his communications director, even though the news executive had already been tarnished in Britain's phone-hacking scandal.

The leader also defended the conduct of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the decision to put him in charge of judging Rupert Murdoch's controversial bid to take full control of the lucrative BSkyB broadcasting company. Hunt has been accused by critics of being too close to the media mogul and his company, News Corp.

Cameron shed light on the cozy relationship he enjoyed with senior Murdoch executives as he tried to wrest control of Britain's government from the Labour Party before the 2010 general election that brought him to power, acknowledging extensive social contacts and supportive text messages.

In sworn testimony before a U.K. media ethics inquiry, Cameron said he chose Coulson for the key communications post because he wanted a tough man to implement his media strategy in a demanding, 24/7 news environment.