Newsnight's Laura Kuenssberg replaces Nick Robinson as BBC's first female political editor
The BBC has announced that Newsnight presenter Laura Kuenssberg will fill the political editor role recently vacated by Nick Robinson.
The announcement was prematurely made by news gathering head Jonathan Munro (tweeted and then deleted) before the official account was made at 6pm on Wednesday by the BBC.
Kuenssberg replaces Nick Robinson, who has left the role after a decade to receive chemotherapy treatment for lung cancer.
Pleased to announce @bbclaurak has been appointed as the BBC’s new Political Editor. @BBCPolitics #BBC #politics
— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) July 22, 2015
James Harding, BBC director of news, said: “Her intelligence and curiosity, judgment and passion stood out in a field of extremely strong candidates.”
In the role, Kuenssberg becomes the corporation's first ever female political editor.