BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg has disclosed that she was "groped" by an unnamed minister and propositioned for a threesome, revelations she shared during an appearance on Channel 5's The Jeremy Vine Show to discuss her new memoir, Pay Attention.
During the interview, 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 responded by describing a minister she used to meet as a contact for information.
Details of the Encounters
Kuenssberg explained: "There was a minister I used to see as a contact to get information. You have to get to know politicians, as a journalist, so you can find things out." She said the individual, whom she had met for coffees, began asking her to attend events, which she declined.
"Over time they started to get a bit handsy, so I cut all contact with them," she added, noting she never actually went to the theatre with them.
Party Conference Proposition
The journalist also addressed an incident at a party conference. When Vine asked if she had been propositioned for a threesome by a minister, Kuenssberg confirmed the story in her book is true, describing party conferences as "weird things" where politicians, journalists, and party members are packed together with long hours.
She recounted 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 thought, 'This is a bit odd, a bit strange'," she said, adding that she moved her chair back towards the wall and left quickly.
Purpose of the Revelations
Kuenssberg clarified she does not know for sure if the minister sought "extra late-night activity," but it felt uncomfortable. She said the stories are in the book to explain that "the line between work life, professional life, and social life... lines can get really, really blurry in politics," sometimes with awful consequences, and to explore how journalists get to know politicians without finding themselves "in a right pickle."
