Chris Mason is Radio 4’s Any Questions Presenter and has been named the second most prominent candidate. Mason will be challenging Laura Kuenssberg for the role of BBC Political Editor.
Mason, 41 years old, joined Kuensberg’s deputy Vicki, 50. Mason said publicly that he was not interested in running for the job.
Kuensberg, 45 years old, will be retiring after seven year tenure. She succeeded Nick Robinson as the first woman to take the position in 2015.
Mason, who is BBC’s political correspondent, has decided to not be Kuenssberg’s successor. This was because Mason wants to keep his focus on Any Questions Radio 4 and writing, according to The Times.
Young had earlier this week announced that she will not enter the Kuenssberg replacement ring for personal reasons.
Her husband Rae Stewart (ex-journalist and PR professional) is currently being treated for cancer.
“Been receiving lots of lovely messages about the #BBC Politic Editor job so I wanted to let everyone know that, for personal reasons, I will not be applying,” she tweeted. “But I look forward to supporting anyone who gets this amazing role.”
Chris Mason is Radio 4’s Any Questions Presenter and has been named the second most prominent candidate. He pulled himself out of the race against Laura Kuenssberg to become BBC political editor
Young began her career at BBC Wales as a reporter before moving to One O’clock News where she became a political correspondent. From 2008 to 2011, she was BBC Breakfast’s correspondent. Rae Stewart is Rae Stewart’s husband.
Young was the favorite to succeed her boss. However, she announced today that she will not put her hand in the ring.
Kuensberg (45), is retiring after seven years. She took over the position from Nick Robinson (2015) as the first woman to do so.
Mason, from Yorkshire, joined Kuenssberg, Adam Fleming and Katya Adler on the Brexitcast to cover Brexit, and has spent nearly 20 years as a broadcast journalist. But he has joined Young in ruling out taking over Kuenssberg’s role.
Young’s announcement that she would not run for the role prompted surprise from other senior journalists.
Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy said it was a ‘shame’, telling Young: ‘Have been saying how good you’d be.’
Young started at the BBC as a reporter at BBC Wales before joining the One O’clock News as a political correspondent. She was a correspondent for BBC Breakfast from 2008 to 2011.
Mason hails from Yorkshire and joined Adam Fleming on the Brexitcast. She has nearly 20 years experience as a journalist. Young has ruled out his role as Kuenssberg’s successor.
Her title as BBC News chief political correspondent was raised to her in 2015. Seit 2020 she is the Beeb’s deputy political editor.
She is the former North America editor, who was beaten by Amol Rajan (5/1), on 11/4.
The Newsnight policy editor will be on at 6:01 and the economics editor, Faisal Islam will be on at 12:01.
‘It is a ferociously hard life in terms of the hours and what is expected of you, and to pile on top of that the expectation that you are going to be public enemy No 1 for all the Twitter keyboard warriors in the most vituperative, personal and unpleasant terms — that’s a very hard thing to cope with,’ Marr told the Times. To keep going, you need to have a strong constitution and skin that is like a rhino.
Sarah Sands (former editor of Today) told The Times, “It’s the most important job at BBC and the most public.” Also, you are never away from duty. Laura would contact me by phone after eleven p.m. and then be with the Today program the following morning. It’s easy to see how presenters, especially those with young families, would feel.
Some believe Jon Sopel, 62, the former North American editor and former BBC political correspondent could be in the running – but it remains a mystery who will take over.
The BBC journalist said to the newspaper that he had been asked by a BBC interviewer: “When you apply for a job at the BBC you ask who has it?” This is the case.
Marr said: ‘It is now Jon Sopel’s to lose — both because he has done a very big job in Washington recently and because he has long-term experience in Westminster. He is the right choice if they want a reliable, safe pair of hands.
The news comes at a difficult time for the BBC, with Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries today signalling that the licence fee will be scrapped after 2027.
Ms. Dorries stated that she would like to create a new funding structure for broadcasters when the current license fee agreement expires in five year’s time.
A two-year suspension of the Corporation’s licence fees has been imposed by the Cabinet Minister. Her allies warned that ‘the days’ of state-run television were over as tensions continue between the BBC and Government.
Ms. Dorries tweets: “This license fee announcement will not be repeated.” No more bailiffs and prison sentences for the elderly.
“Time is now for discussion and debate about new ways to fund, support, and sell great British content.”
Ms Dorries was speaking as it emerged Boris Johnson was planning a policy blitz dubbed Operation Red Meat, targeting disaffected Tory voters – and MPs – with a series of populist moves including a crackdown on cross-Channel migrants aimed at deflecting attention away from Partygate.
Tense negotiations between the Government and the BBC over the cost of the annual fee until the end of 2027 have concluded, with Ms Dorries deciding to hold the licence at £159 for the next two years.
Officials calculate that – due to inflation currently running at 5.1 per cent – the Corporation will have to find savings of more than £2billion over the next six years.
However, Ms Dorries is also considering pegging future fee increases below inflation between 2024 and the end of the current Royal Charter on December 31, 2027 – meaning the savings the BBC must make could end up being even higher.
Kuensberg will continue to work for the Corporation in an unknown role. The BBC has stated she will participate in news and current affairs projects that span TV, radio, online, and on the internet. Additional details will be released in the new Year.
It was previously suggested said that Kuenssberg, who earned £250,000, could become a presenter on Radio 4’s flagship Today programme as part of a major reshuffle of senior on-air staff.
But, it has been mentioned that she could be a replacement for Andrew Marr in his Sunday morning politics program.
Yesterday Marr hosted the final episode of Sunday politics’ long-running programme. He left the BBC to present radio programs on Classic FM and LBC for his rival broadcaster Global after 21 years.
Commanding a salary of more than £250,000 as political editor, Kuenssberg also found a new audience by appearing on the Brexitcast podcast throughout the UK’s Brexit negotiations with the EU.
However, she has faced accusations of bias from across the political spectrum.
She was criticised last yearAfter hearing that Dominic Cummings had violated lockdown rules, Dominic Cummings appeared to stand by him.
Kuensberg shared an immediate rebuttal by an unnamed source within 30 minutes of the news breaking. It claimed that Kuensberg’s senior aide had traveled 260 miles from London to Durham, which was only 30 minutes after the original story broke. [the] guidelines’.
Kuensberg replied to the Daily Mirror reporter, tweeting: ‘Source says Cummings’s trip was in line with guidelines. Cummings was staying with his parents to care for his children while he and wife are ill. They claim no breach or lockdown.
The chorus of Labour-supporting trolls immediately condemned her reply, some calling her a mouthpiece for Government’ and others a ‘Tory stooge.
Miss Kuenssberg was revealed to be Mr Cummings’s only regular contact, due to the broadcaster’s ‘special position’ in the country.
Kuensbergberg’s successor is yet to be revealed, however Jon Sopel (recently retired North America editor) and Faisal Islamic, economics editor, are all linked to this job
During his bombshell evidence session to MPs earlier this year, the former Downing Street aide said the political editor was the ‘main’ journalist he would speak to – but stressed they would only talk once every ‘three or four weeks’ to ‘give guidance on big stories’.
Mr Cummings then made a series of scathing claims about the Prime Minister’s handling of the Covid pandemic – including that Boris Johnson allegedly viewed the virus as a ‘scare story’ just a month before the first lockdown – in a sit-down interview with Miss Kuenssberg.
Kuensberg along with Robert Peston, ITV’s Political Editor, made the claim during the 2019 General Election that Matt Hancock, an aide to disgraced ex minister, was punched in the face by a Labour activist.
They quickly disproved the claims with video evidence and had to apologize for misleading customers.
She was subject to security guard protection at the Labour Party Conference 2017 after being subjected to abuses for reporting on Jeremy Corbyn. Critics claimed that she wasn’t neutral and had treated former Labour leader unjustly.
Kuenssberg also attracted controversy earlier this 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.
Kuensberg was not mentioned by the programme leaders.
Kuensberg was previously the BBC’s chief political reporter before she became the BBC’s politics editor. Kuensberg has also held high-ranking roles with ITV News, BBC Two and Newsnight.
Kuensberg won Broadcaster of the year in 2016 by the Political Studies Association for her coverage of the Brexit Referendum, and the subsequent follow up stories.
In the same year, she was awarded the British Journalism Awards Journalist of Year.