BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg has suggested a male minister may have wanted a threesome with her and his partner. The journalist, whose book Pay Attention is published next week, recounted a "very uncomfortable" encounter with an MP at a party conference.
Hotel room meeting takes unexpected turn
Ms Kuenssberg described meeting the minister in his hotel room, where she expected to find him and an adviser. Instead, she found him sprawled on the bed with his shirt undone by several buttons, with his partner also present. She said she swiftly finished her drink and left.
Asked if she thought they were after a threesome, she told The Times: "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."
Concerns about Westminster behaviour
Ms Kuenssberg, the BBC's first woman political editor, said she has concerns about people's behaviour in Westminster and worries about young people being "very vulnerable".
"People do things," she continued. "And human behaviour is a complicated thing and sometimes people behave badly. And the concern … there is still a concern in Westminster that particularly young people starting out are sometimes very vulnerable."
Book recounts other uncomfortable encounters
In her book, the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg presenter recalls several "weird" or "creepy" encounters with politicians. In one instance, she details how she cut off communications with a then-government minister, who was middle-aged and married, after they asked her to the theatre and once dared "a little grope".
Describing a former minister who kissed her on the head every time he saw her, she said: "That was just weird. I never felt threatened. But it's just a strange thing to do." Her book also recounts someone who sent her a "really creepy text" complimenting her clothes on TV.
"I'm not friends with politicians. There are lots of politicians who are perfectly nice people, but I don't socialise with politicians," she said.
Reasons for writing the book
Speaking about her decision to write a book, Ms Kuenssberg said: "I suppose over a period of months thinking about whether or not I was going to write a book, having put it off for years and years and years, it sort of occurred to me that we were reaching a moment where I think I needed to come up for air and go, 'OK, right. We had Brexit and the referendum. We've had social media emerging in incredible ways.'"
She added: "You've had the phenomenon of Reform's success exploding. You've had all of these different things that have been a big event for the country. And how can we sort of link them together? Are people really conscious of how we got to this place? And are people really conscious of the fact that politics is so different from what it was like when I started?'"
On her book, she added: "People will make of it what they will. I don't know how people will react to it. I think for anybody writing a book for the first time, there's a certain amount of trepidation."
