Laura Kuenssberg is a British well-recognized journalist. She served as political editor at the BBC in July 2015 and is the first woman to hold the position. Moreover, she has also served as the BBC’s chief political correspondent and was the first business editor of ‘ITV News’. She was also the chief correspondent for ‘Newsnight’ between February 2014 and July 2015. She was named in the Evening Standard’s 2019 list of the top 20 ‘most influential Londoners’.
What makes Laura Kuenssberg so famous?
- Being an Award-winning British journalist.
- For being a first lady political editor in ‘BBC News’ in July 2015.
Source: @instagram.com/thetimesmagazine
Who is Laura Kuenssberg Parents? Details About Her Birthplace, Nationality, and Education
Laura Kuenssberg was born on 8th August 1976 in Rome, Italy. She spent her childhood in Glasgow. Her birth name is Laura Juliet Kuenssberg. She was born to a German heritage. About her parents, she is the daughter of her father, Nick Kuenssberg, and her mother, Sally Kuenssberg. Her father worked in Italy for British company Coats Viyella for a number of years and her mother worked in children’s services and received a CBE for this in the 2000 New Year Honours. She has two siblings namely Joanna and David Kuenssberg. By profession, Joanna (elder sister) is the High Commissioner of the UK to Mozambique. And her elder brother, David is executive director of finance and resources at Brighton and Hove City Council. She came from a well-settled family. Her grandparents were the founder of the Royal College of General Practitioners. The name of her paternal grandfather is Dr. Ekkehard von Kuenssberg. Her maternal grandfather Lord Roberton was a High Court judge. She celebrated her 45th birthday as of 2021. She holds British nationality and she belongs to mixed ethnic background. Her Zodiac sign is Leo and she is Christian by religion.
Concerning her educational qualification, she attended Laurel Bank School, a private girls’ school. Then, she joined the University of Edinburgh where she studied history, graduating with a first-class honors MA degree. She later graduated from Georgetown University, D.C where she did a journalism course. She then interned at the NBC News political program.
Laura Kuenssberg Career Timeline
- Laura Kuenssberg began her career by working for local radio and cable television in her hometown.
- Then, she joined BBC North East and Cumbria in March 2000 as a trainee journalist.
- After she was appointed chief political correspondent for BBC News, she started reporting for BBC One bulletins, Daily Politics, and the BBC News channel.
- As of May 2010, her presence on BBC Television was so ubiquitous in the period between the 2010 United Kingdom general election and the formation of the Cameron–Clegg coalition, that journalist David Aaronovitch coined the term “Kuenssbergovision”.
- Then, she also took up the newly created role of business editor for “ITV News” in September 2011.
- In addition, she contributed towards business reporting on ITV’s current affairs strand, “Tonight”.
- She made her debut co-newscasting “News at Ten” with Alastair Stewart on 27th August 2013.
- It was announced on 12th November 2013 stating that she would leave ITV to return to the BBC as chief correspondent and a presenter of “Newsnight” replacing Gavin Esler. In February 2014, she joined the “Newsnight”.
- She also co-presented the BBC’s “Brexitcast” podcast between the 2017 United Kingdom general election and Brexit in 2020. It was then retitled as the “Newscast” podcast.
- She became the first woman to hold the position of BBC’s political editor in July 2015.
- she was involved in arranging for the Labour MP Stephen Doughty to publicly announce his resignation as a shadow foreign office minister on “Daily Politics” in January 2016.
- During a joint press conference with prime minister Theresa May and Donald Trump, the president of the United States, she recalled a number of controversial statements Trump made about his proposed travel ban during the 2016 United States presidential election and asked Trump if he had anything to say to British viewers “worried about you becoming the leader of the free world?” Trump responded, “That’s your choice of a question?” He then remarked to May: “There goes that relationship.”
- In addition, she also presented a documentary, “The Brexit Storm: Laura Kuenssberg’s Inside Story” for BBC Two in March 2019.
- She presented a second documentary film, “The Brexit Storm Continues: Laura Kuenssberg’s Inside Story” on 17th December 2019.
- She was also accused of being biased against the Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn following the 2016 local elections calling for her dismissal. Later, the petition was withdrawn by David Babbs, executive director of 38 Degrees, who suggested it had become a “focal point for sexist and hateful abuse made towards Laura Kuenssberg” on other social media websites such as Twitter although it was acknowledged that this represented “the actions of a small minority”.
- ‘The Daily Telegraph’ also published a story about Kuenssberg in 2017 with the headline “the most divisive woman on TV today?” printed on the front page.
- She received criticism in September 2019 for her portrayal of Omar Salem, a father who confronted the prime minister, Boris Johnson, about the government’s treatment of the NHS, as “a Labour activist”. Salem defended Kuenssberg, saying that she was doing her job “without fear or favor which is a vital part of democracy. I don’t think ‘Labour activist cares about NHS’ is a huge scoop though…”.
- In May 2020, as the Dominic Cummings scandal broke, Kuenssberg tweeted several statements from an anonymous source close to Cummings about the nature of his trip.
- As of May 2021, Dominic Cummings confirmed to a Parliamentary committee that he “set the record straight” with briefings to Kuenssberg.
Why Laura Kuenssberg is stepping down as BBC Political Editor?
Laura Kuenssberg is in talks to step down as BBC political editor after six years and switch to presenting the “Today” program. The Guardian says Kuenssberg is negotiating to step away from her role of the past six years as part of a major reshuffle of the BBC’s on-air staff. Her departure would leave open the key role of political editor at a time when the future of the BBC license fee is being negotiated. A BBC spokesperson would not be drawn on the report, releasing a statement instead focusing on the broadcaster’s efforts to appoint a new North America editor. “The North America editor role is currently being advertised internally and the role will go through the normal recruitment process; it’s a bit soon to start speculating about the outcome of this, let alone other jobs which aren’t actually vacant,” the statement read.
Awards and Achievements
- Royal Television Society award for her work as home affairs correspondent, and produced segments for the social affairs editor Niall Dickson
- Broadcaster of the Year by the Political Studies Association in November 2016
- Journalist of the Year award in December 2016
- Named in the Evening Standard’s 2019 list of the top 20 ‘most influential Londoners’
Who is Laura Kuenssberg Husband?
Laura Kuenssberg is a married woman. She tied a knot to her handsome husband, James Kelly. Their wedding was held in London, the UK. By profession, James Kelly is a management consultant and he studied at Harvard and Edinburgh. The couple does not have any kids as of now. The happily married couple is currently residing in East London. Her sexual orientation is straight. They both are supportive of each other and they are leading a blissful life ahead. There is no sign of divorce between them.
Source: @express.co.uk
Laura Kuenssberg Net Worth, Salary and Income
Laura Kuenssberg is a well-renowned journalist whose net worth is estimated to have between in range of $1 Million-$5 Million as of 2021. Her major source of wealth comes from the journalism industry and she is living a standard lifestyle with her earnings. Her annual salary is $290K at present. She has not disclosed anything regarding her house, mansion, and cars collection.
How tall is Laura Kuenssberg?
Laura Kuenssberg still looks very young at the age of 45. She has a perfect height of 5 ft 7 in. Her well-maintained body weight consists of 55 Kg. She has a pair of light brown eyes and her hair color is blonde. Overall, she got a healthy body and she is very conscious about her food intake. Her body type is slim. She has short hair.
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