Laura Kuenssberg describes uncomfortable encounters with ministers

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 1 Nov, 08:50 · Archive

BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg has described uncomfortable encounters with government ministers in her forthcoming book Pay Attention. She recounts meeting an unnamed minister in his hotel room at a party conference, where she found him sprawled on a bed with his partner, his shirt partially undone. She had expected to meet the minister and his adviser.

When asked by The Times if the couple were suggesting a threesome, Kuenssberg said: 'Well, maybe they were and maybe they weren't. As I say, maybe they weren't and I got it completely wrong. It was very uncomfortable.' She finished her drink and left the room.

Kuenssberg, 50, the BBC's first woman political editor who held the position from 2015 to 2022, describes another encounter with a married government minister with whom she had off-the-record coffees to discuss politics. He invited her to the theatre, where she says he had 'a little grope'.

The book also details other interactions Kuenssberg found inappropriate. One politician would greet her by kissing her on the head or forehead; another sent her a 'really creepy text' complimenting what she was wearing on television. She said she stopped contact with politicians who behaved this way.

Kuenssberg has refused to name either of the two ministers involved in the threesome and theatre incidents, or to identify what political parties they represent. She told The Times: 'People do things. And human behaviour is a complicated thing, and sometimes people behave badly.' She expressed concern that 'particularly young people starting out' in Westminster 'are sometimes very vulnerable' to such behaviour from politicians.

How it is being reported

• Laura Kuenssberg Says A Minister May Have Wanted A Threesome With HerLaura Kuenssberg in 2023. Laura Kuenssberg has said a government minister may have tried to have a threesome with her at a party conference. The BBC presenter also claimed another politician had “a little grope” while they attended the theatre. Kuenssberg, who presents the corporation’s flagship Sunday morning political show, made the revelations in a new book. She has refused to name either politician, or said what political parties they represent. On the first occasion, Kuenssberg said she was invited to an unnamed minister’s hotel room for a drink, where she was met by him and his…HuffPost UK · 1 Nov, 08:31
• Top BBC journalist ‘offered threesome by minister and his wife’ at party conferenceLaura Kuenssberg was at a party conference when she went to an arranged meeting with the minister in his hotel room (Picture: Euan Cherry/Getty Images) BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg has revealed she met a government minister in his hotel room where he was sprawled on the bed with his partner. The former…Metro · 31 Oct, 13:29
• Laura Kuenssberg 'was invited to a threesome by Government minister who lay sprawled on hotel bed with shirt buttons undone and his partner there waiting'Ms Kuenssberg, 50, has narrated the encounter in her first book, Pay Attention, in which she describes how the minister appeared to be inviting her to join a threesome.Daily Mail · 31 Oct, 10:16
• Laura Kuenssberg suggests male minister may have wanted a threesome with herBBC Presenter Laura Kuenssberg, whose book Pay Attention will be published next week, has suggested a male minister may have wanted a threesome with her and his partnerThe Mirror · 30 Oct, 17:50

In this story: Laura Kuenssberg · BBC · Westminster

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