BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg has spoken publicly about being “groped” by an unnamed minister and recounted an uncomfortable encounter in a politician’s hotel room, as detailed in her new memoir, Pay Attention. The former BBC News political editor discussed the incidents on Channel 5’s The Jeremy Vine Show.
Incident at the Theatre
During the interview, Jeremy Vine asked: “You were groped at the theatre by another minister and then you had a text: 'I like your outfit and can I see a bit more of it?'” Kuenssberg explained that a minister she used as a contact for information began asking her to events, which she declined. “Over time they started to get a bit handsy, so I cut all contact with them,” she said.
Hotel Room Encounter
Kuenssberg also revealed being propositioned for a threesome by a government minister and their partner at a party conference. She described knocking on a hotel room door, expecting staff or advisers, but instead finding the minister with “a few too many of their shirt buttons undone” and their partner present. “I just felt this felt really creepy,” she said, noting she moved her chair back towards the wall and left quickly.
Blurred Lines in Politics
She clarified she was unsure if the encounter was a proposition or friendliness, but included it in the book to highlight how “the line between work life, professional life, and social life... lines can get really, really blurry in politics.” She added that sometimes this “has awful consequences,” and the book explores how to get to know politicians without “finding yourself in a right pickle.”
