Laura Kuenssberg Biography

Laura Kuenssberg was born on 8 August 1976, in Italy. She is the third child of Nick Kuenssberg, a Scottish businessman, and Sally Kuenssberg, a decorated children’s service worker.

She grew up in Glasgow along with her brother and sister: David and Joanna Kuenssberg. Her brother, David Kuenssberg, is a civil servant while her sister, Joanna Kuenssberg, is a former British diplomat.

She attended the prestigious ‘Laurel Bank School’, a private girl’s school based out of Glasgow.

Laura Kuenssberg initially opted for a History degree at the University of Edinburg, which she then followed with a course in Journalism at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

During that period, she worked on a political program on NBC News, which consequently secured her a position at her hometown’s (Glasgow) radio station. That was followed by a short stint at a Glasgow based cable television station.

In March 2000, she joined BBC North East and Cumbria as a trainee. Soon, she was working as home affairs correspondent and producing segments for BBC’s social affairs editor at the time— Niall Dickson.

A few years later, she became the chief political correspondent, she began reporting for BBC One bulletins, Daily Politics and BBC News. Such was the impact of her 2010 UK general election (held under David Cameron) coverage that famous journalist, David Aaronovitich, coined the term, ‘Kuenssbergovision’ to describe her quality and style of political reporting.

In September 2011, she quit her job at BBC to fill a newly created position at ITV News; that of a business editor. During that time, she did some amount of business reporting for the television network’s current affairs program, ‘Tonight’.

She made her debut for ITV’s ‘News at Ten’ on 27th August 2013 as a co-newscaster alongside Alastair Stewart, which was well received by the public at the time.

A few months later, however, news regarding her return to BBC was making the rounds. She was to replace Galvin Esler as a host of ‘Newsnight’. Laura Kuenssberg took over as chief correspondent at BBC, formally joining the Newsnight team in February 2014.

In July 2015, she was made the political editor at BBC. With that announcement, she became the first woman to grace that high position in the long history of the broadcasting corporation.

In 2016, she was involved in the resignation announcement of the then Labor MP Stephen Doughtry. The latter made a public announcement of him renouncing the position of shadow foreign minister on ‘Daily Politics’ She was also accused of being biased against another leader of a Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn.

In January 2017, yet another controversy made the rounds. She was accused by the BBC Trust of defying the Broadcaster’s Impartiality and Accuracy Guidelines. Given the danger that loomed over her life, her employers made every arrangement for her protection during the 2017 general election. That included a personal bodyguard.

Once again, in 2019, a day before the general elections, she made a controversial statement about the postal votes, which landed her up in trouble. It is believed that she breached the set guidelines of the Electoral Commission by viewing the postal votes prior to the polling day and predicted the electoral outcomes.

Laura Kuenssberg’s most significant work till date remains her coverage of Brexit and the Tory leadership. Besides the acclaim she received for this coverage, it also established her as one of the fearless faces of political journalism.

Her first documentary, The Brexit Storm: Laura Kuenssberg’s Inside Story, was a massive hit as it emphasized the Brexit negotiations as well as her capability as a political journalist. The documentary was presented in March 2019 for BBC Two.

Her second documentary, The Brexit Storm Continues: Laura Kuenssberg’s Inside Story, covered the arrival of Boris Johnson at 10 Downing street till the general election of 2019.

In the year 2016, Laura Kuenssberg was honored with the title of Broadcaster of the Year by Political Studies Association, for her priceless contribution to the “public understanding of politics”.

In December 2016, she was named Journalist of the Year for her thorough and insightful contribution to the Brexit coverage.

Laura Kuenssberg has also been tagged as one of the ‘twenty most influential Londoners’ in the Evening Standard's 2019 list.

Laura Kuenssberg has two older siblings. David, who is older to Laura, works as an executive director of finance and resources at Brighton and Hove City Council whereas Joanna is a diplomat.

Though Kuenssberg is very secretive about her personal life, she is believed to be married to James Kelly, a management consultant who also completed his degree at the University of Edinburgh. The couple is currently situated in east London and have no children.