George Osborne is facing questions . over his relationship with Andy Coulson after claims he was paying back a. favour by helping the former News of the World editor get a job with . the Tories . A lawyer representing phone hacking . victims says the now-defunct tabloid underplayed their coverage of sex . and drugs allegations against him in October 2005 . Six years ago the paper ran on its front page hotly . disputed claims from former prostitute and ex-drug user Natalie Rowe . that the Chancellor took cocaine in his early 20s , before he became an . MP . Mark Lewis said Mr Coulson , editor of . the paper the time the story broke in October 2005 , deliberately played . down the scandal in the leader column , effectively saving Mr Osborne ’ s . political career . Mr Lewis told Australian TV : 'The . editor at the time was Andy Coulson , and I think that 's worth . remembering because of the future relationship that we have between the . Conservative Party , the Prime Minister and Andy Coulson . ' He added : 'Andy Coulson had done . George Osborner a favour ; perhaps it was time for George Osborne to . reciprocate and do a favour back . ' But Tory MPs rounded on Mr Lewis , calling it a 'spurious ' attempt to embarrass the Chancellor with 'the wprst sort of smear ' . In the leader column the paper said Mr. Osborne was ' a young man when he found himself in a murky world ' , and . said it was up to the voters to judge at election time . A lawyer representing Natalie Rowe claims Andy Coulson ( left ) was helped into his Number 10 role by George Osborne ( right ) because he was owed a 'favour ' Mr Lewis said : ‘ The decision on which . spin to give to the story by the editor of the News of the World . particularly was something that determined his future in politics . ‘ If it would have been written the other way it would have finished his career I ’ m sure. ’ In July , as the phone-hacking scandal . broke , Rebekah Brooks , Mr Coulson 's successor at the NotW , told MPs that . the chancellor had played a key role in his appointment as David . Cameron 's media adviser . Mark Lewis , a solicitor who represents . many of the celebrities said to have had their voicemail messages . intercepted by the News of the World , was speaking after Miss Rowe . repeated the cocaine allegations on Australian television . She told ABC ’ s PM programme she sold . her lurid story to the Sunday Mirror in 2005 and was surprised to see it . appear simultaneously in the News of the World , then edited by Andy . Coulson . She and her lawyer claim the paper obtained the story by hacking her phone . Allegations : Former escort girl Natalie Rowe claims that George Osborne used to take cocaine with her . Tory MPs condemned Mr Lewis 's latest claims as a spurious attempt to smear the Chancellor . Patrick Mercer said : ‘ This is the . worst sort of smear , where an account that has previously been put to . bed is raised again on the back of other allegations . ‘ It is a vacuous attempt to breathe . life into an issue that has already died , by a lawyer who is clearly . looking for financial advantage. ’ Mark Field , another Tory MP , said : ‘ It . appears to be a rather spurious attempt to embarrass a senior minister . and link the government to the phone hacking scandal using the most . lurid of claims. ’ Miss Rowe is believed to have spoken . out abroad because of the legal difficulties in having such an interview . broadcast in this country . She explained that in 2005 , a picture . surfaced which showed Mr Osborne sitting alongside her when she was . working as a dominatrix known as ‘ Mistress Pain ’ . The photograph was taken in a London . flat in about 1993 or 1994 , when Mr Osborne was in his early 20s . It has . been claimed previously that a line of a cocaine can be seen on the . table in front of them . In her TV interview , Miss . Rowe , now in her mid-40s , claimed she was ‘ more than just a friend ’ of . Mr Osborne and insisted he had been a regular user of the Class A drug . A source close to Mr Osborne said it was ridiculous to claim that the Chancellor had helped Mr Coulson come to work for the Tories because he owed him a favour . The source pointed out that it was all of two years later that the journalist joined the Conservatives : ‘ There ’ s nothing in it . If there had been someone would have said something about it at the time. ’ Although the picture was taken before Mr Osborne entered politics , it was published when he had taken centre stage in the Conservative party as shadow chancellor . Only a few months earlier he had managed David Cameron ’ s successful campaign to become Tory party leader .
Former prostitute 's lawyer questions Mark Lewis appointment as Cameron 's communication chief . Andy Coulson 's claims former NotW editor was helped into No10 role by his paper 's 'soft ' coverage of story . Osborne has repeatedly denied Natalie Rowe 's claims about drug-taking . Miss Rowe says she was victim of phone hacking .