The party where Tories toasted Boris’ demise! Laura Kuenssberg says ex-colleagues celebrated slaying ‘the beast who’d been pushing them all around for so long’ at ‘wild’ soirée thrown by The Spectator after PM quit
- New BBC political show Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg will air on September 4th
- In a new interview with British Vogue, the former BBC political editor, 46, described the immediate aftermath of Boris Johnson’s demise as ‘very wild’
- Joining MPs at The Spectator summer party hours after the news broke, she said ‘the next generation was prowling around, trying to build new alliances’
- Broadcaster also called social media trolling from people who ‘get off on being mean about a woman on the telly’ a ‘horrible little side-effect’ of her job
Laura Kuenssberg has revealed how Conservative MPs celebrated the demise of Boris Johnson, at a party just hours after his resignation, describing the mood as ‘very wild and very bizarre’.
In a new interview with British Vogue ahead of the launch of her new BBC flagship political show next week, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the 46-year-old broadcaster described witnessing Tories celebrating Johnson’s quitting at The Spectator summer party on July 7th – hours after the PM’s resignation speech in Downing Street, saying many were already plotting new roles for themselves.
She told the publication the news of the PM’s departure created an atmosphere at the Westminster party that was: ‘Very hot, very wild and very bizarre. It was like being in a tropical jungle, not just because of the heat, but because they’d slain the beast who’d been pushing them all around for so long.’
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New BBC political show Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg will air on September 4th. In a new interview with British Vogue, the broadcaster, 46, described her aspirations that the flagship show will answer ‘big questions’ as the country endures the current cost of living crisis (Pictured for British Vogue at Broadcasting House)
Joining MPs, including former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, centre, at The Spectator summer party on July 7th after the news of the Prime Minister’s resignation broke. Kuenssberg said ‘the next generation was prowling around, trying to build new alliances’ at the soiree
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak and Nadhim Zahawi were among those pictured at the lavish press bash on Old Queen Street, alongside former housing and communities secretary Michael Gove, and former health secretary Matt Hancock.
Kuenssberg added that those with political ambitions quickly circled, saying: ‘And the next generation was prowling around, trying to build new alliances and grab the plumpest, juiciest fruit for themselves.’
The former BBC political editor, who announced she was leaving the role after seven years in December 2021, will take the helm on September 4th for the BBC’s reworked Sunday political programme, formerly hosted by Andrew Marr.
Speaking about her time in her previous role, she said that while Westminster didn’t always reflect day-to-day reality for people living in the UK, there had been positive steps to addressing ‘inappropriate behaviour’ in recent years.
Kuenssberg said: ‘Is it [Westminster] a perfect working environment? Absolutely not. Is it an accurate mirror of the country we all live in? Absolutely not. But is it more open now than it was when I started? Yes. Is inappropriate behaviour taken more seriously? Yes.’
Describing how the current cost of living crisis means the programme will have big questions to ask, she said it was an ‘honour’ to take on the new role.
‘Right now people are going: “Why are my bills so high? Why is it so hard to make ends meet? How is it going to end in Ukraine? Are we safe as a country?”
‘The public’s got really big questions and demands from the political class – things that need to be done and things that need to be answered for them.’
Boris Johnson pictured after his defiant resignation speech on July 7th; many of his former cabinet attended The Spectator summer party later that day
Carrie Johnson (centre), holding daughter Romy, alongside Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries (right), pictured during Johnson’s resignation at Downing Street
The journalist also addressed being a target for social media trolls while in her previous role, saying she refused to let herself get distracted by people who ‘get off’ on being mean to public figures, saying it was ‘a horrible little side-effect, but it’s not the work’.
Kuenssberg became the first woman to hold the BBC political editor role, taking over from Nick Robinson in 2015, and covered a feverish period of politics including the Brexit referendum, two general elections and the Covid pandemic.
Paid a salary of more than £250,000, the broadcaster endured tumultuous moments as BBC political editor.
In 2020, she was criticised after appearing to defend Dominic Cummings following reports that he had flouted lockdown rules.
Within 30 minutes of the story breaking, Kuenssberg had shared a rebuttal from an unnamed source claiming that the then Prime Minister’s senior aide’s 260-mile trip from London to his parents’ home in Durham was ‘within [the] guidelines’.
Kuenssberg became the first woman to hold the BBC political editor role, taking over from Nick Robinson in 2015 – she announced her departure after seven years in December
In response to the Daily Mirror journalist who broke the story, Kuenssberg tweeted: ‘Source says his trip was within guidelines as Cummings went to stay with his parents so they could help with childcare while he and his wife were ill – they insist no breach of lockdown’.
Her reply was immediately met by a chorus of condemnation from Labour-supporting trolls, with some accusing her of being a ‘mouthpiece for the Government’ and a ‘Tory stooge’.
At the Labour Party conference in 2017, she had to be protected by security guards following abuse she had received for her reporting on Jeremy Corbyn. Critics claimed she was not neutral and treated the former Labour leader unfairly.
Kuenssberg also attracted controversy last year after a complaint was made against her over her use of the phrase ‘nitty gritty’ while discussing Downing Street business on the Brexitcast.
Anti-racism campaigners claim the term originates from the slave trade, and was reportedly banned by Sky Sports last year amid concerns.
However, programme bosses threw out the complaint against Kuenssberg.
See the full feature in the September issue of British Vogue available via digital download and on newsstands now. Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg begins on BBC One on September 4th.
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