Laura Kuensberg (BBC political editor) is believed to be in discussions to leave the role to become a presenter at Radio 4’s Today.
Jon Sopel (North America editor), is among the names that are being considered for her replacement. Sopel revealed this week that he was returning to the US.
Mr. Sopel was associated with the post of political editor in 2015. It was given to Kuenssberg in 2015. Kuenssberg is the first woman to hold it. Sarah Smith, BBC Scotland editor and sometimes presenter on Today, is being linked to Mr Sopel.
Other names associated with the role of political editor include Newsnight policy editor Lewis Goodall and Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis. Ben Brown is also a BBC News host.
Former political editors Nick Robinson and Andrew Marr have gone on to present jobs at BBC. Robinson is a presenter for Radio 4’s Today programme. Marr has a Sunday morning show on BBC One.
Here’s who could replace Kuenssberg in the role of political editor, with odds provided by Betfair
JON SOPEL (6/4)
Three days after Laura Kuenssberg’s North America Editor announced that he was returning to the US, Jon Sopel is the favorite to replace Laura Kuenssberg.
The husband-of-two father-of-2 was first linked to the political editor position in 2015 when Kuensberg received it.
Sopel, 62 years old, was born in London. She joined the BBC as a reporter and producer for BBC Radio Solent in 1983. She has held a variety of roles within the corporation including chief political correspondent for BBC News, and main presenter on The Politics Show.
Sarah Smith, BBC Scotland editor, is being linked to Sopel’s North America job.
Sopel tweeted Tuesday: “Some personal news: I’m going.. After 7+ years in DC, 3 books and 3 presidents (one that kept me busy more than the others), it’s time for me to return to the UK. We are planning a long holiday. Perhaps a new book. But most importantly, we want to go to Aus to meet Eliza our first grandchild.
LEWIS GOODALL(5/2)
Lewis Goodall, who previously worked for three-years as a political correspondent at Sky News, has been the policy editor at Newsnight since January 2020.
He was Sky’s Brexit and General Election correspondent and has made documentaries about British politics such as the Easter Rising and Enoch Powell’s legacy.
The 32-year old Oxford graduate has previously reported for Newsnight, Victoria Derbyshire and BBC Radio 4.
Birmingham-born Goodall also served as a researcher for ITV Granada, the Institute for Public Policy Research and as a student abroad in Paris and Beijing.
EMILY MAITLIS (6/1)
Emily Maitlis is BBC Newsnight’s lead presenter. She is perhaps most well-known for her explosive interview with Prince Andrew in 2019, which saw him resign from his public role days later.
Andrew failed to express remorse about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier, and showed little compassion for the paedophiles’ victims.
Maitlis, 59, an RTS award-winning journalist who spent six years reporting from the Far East, based in Hong Kong – presents general elections for the BBC and speaks Spanish, French and Italian.
However, she has been criticized for perceived breaches of impartiality rules. This included a summary of Dominic Cummings lockdown row. She claimed that he had ‘broken rules’ and that ‘the country can’t see that. It’s shocking that the Government cannot.
Maitlis also used Newsnight as a platform to attack claims that coronavirus was an ‘great leveller’ of society, since she claimed that the poorest Britons were less likely than others to survive the pandemic.
BEN BROWN(8/1)
Ben Brown is a main presenter at BBC News. He joined the corporation in 1989 and was a foreign correspondent until 1991. He reported on the fall of both the Berlin Wall (and the Gulf war) from 1991 to 1991.
From 1991 to 1995, he was Moscow correspondent for Oxford. He witnessed the fall of communism and was awarded an RTS award for his reporting in Zimbabwe in 2000.
Brown was embedded in the British troops during the 2003 Iraq War and wrote a book titled ‘Sandstealers’ about his experiences as war correspondent.
Brown worked in the 1980s at Independent Radio News and Liverpool’s Radio City, before joining BBC.
EMMA BARNETT10/1
Since January, Emma Barnett, who had been presenting Woman’s Hour at Radio 4, has been the main presenter. She joined Radio 5 Live’s eponymous show in January.
She has also presented Newsnight and written a column in the i newspaper. It’s About Bloody Time on menstruation.
Barnett, born in Manchester, currently lives in London with her husband, and son.
Barnett’s debut week on Women’s Hour saw Kelechi Okafor as a guest. She claimed that she overheard the presenter discussing whether she had made antisemitic comments. Barnett, 36 years old, defended herself by saying that she stood by her questions to Miss Okafor and her team.
Befair reports that three other journalists are a little further back in the race according to Befair. FAISAL ISLAM(14/1), NICK ROBINSON(16/1) ANDREW MARR (20/1).
Coral’s odds of success are: JON SOPEL(3/1), VICKI YOUNG (4/1), AMOL RAJAN(6/1), JAMES LANDALE(8/1), BETH RIGBY(10/1), FAISAL ISLAM(10/1), LEWIS GOODALL(10/1), SARAH SMITH(10/1) ROBERT PESTON (16/1).
Ladbrokes also provided the following odds: JON SOPEL(3/1), VICKI YOUNG (4/1), AMOL RAJAN(6/1), JAMES LANDALE(8/1), BETH RIGBY(10/1), FAISAL ISLAM(10/1), LEWIS GOODALL(10/1), SARAH SMITH (10/1), JON CRAIG (25/1), ANDREW NEIL (200/1),GEORGE OSBORNE(200/1) PIERS MORGAN(200/1).