Laura Kuenssberg has confirmed she will step down as the BBC’s political editor at Easter but will remain with the corporation in “a senior presenting and reporting role”. Here are the BBC journalists tipped to be possible replacements.
Vicki Young
Despite serving as Kuenssberg’s deputy and being a regular face on television screens, she has studiously maintained a low profile. She is also a lifelong BBC employee, which could make her a relatively uncontroversial appointment at a time when the broadcaster is dealing with a hostile government.
Jon Sopel
Recently returned from the US after almost a decade in Washington DC as North America editor, where he covered the Trump presidency and still found the time to write books and do the Americast podcast. Currently taking time off, the 62-year-old could be a safe pair of hands due to his extensive experience in political journalism.
Amol Rajan
Any mere mortal might think that being the BBC’s media editor, a presenter on Radio 4’s Today programme, the occasional host of The One Show, a sometime stand-in for Zoe Ball on the Radio 2 Breakfast show, rotating presenter of Radio 4’s Start the Week, and host of the Rethink podcast might be enough jobs for one man. But would he be willing to give all that up for one of the most prominent reporting jobs in the country?
His recent monstering by the Daily Mail for presenting a documentary that suggested the royal family traded media access for positive press coverage may have made that harder.
Ros Atkins
His “assertive impartiality” viral videos, explaining the slow collapse of Boris Johnson’s government in excruciating detail, have lit up the internet in recent weeks.
Chris Mason
Another ubiquitous presence on television and radio, his years of early starts and willingness to do any broadcast slot have made him popular within the building – while appearances on the podcast Brexitcast (now Newscast) raised his profile further. Last year he turned down a job with Times Radio to stay with the public broadcaster. With the BBC desperate to look and sound less London-centric, it could help to be a native of Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales who regularly travels around the country presenting Radio 4’s Any Questions.
Faisal Islam
Escaped Westminster lobby journalism when he gave up the Sky News political editor job to join the BBC as economics editor in 2019. Any return to his old beat might cause tension with the government – his reporting on the impact of leaving the EU was perceived as hostile by many in Downing Street who wanted Brexit to presented as a triumph by the national broadcaster.
