Where Is Laura Kuenssberg?

The BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg has not had a good press in the past week, as the Tories have become engulfed in the controversy precipitated by the lockdown-busting antics of chief Downing Street polecat Dominic Cummings. She did not help her own cause by coming to Cummings’ aid by quoting a source claiming that Dom had done no wrong. The source seemed rather too close to the Polecat.

This earned her no Brownie points at all from alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson: when several pundits tried to question the Government’s Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Medical Officer during the Thursday Downing Street briefing, Bozo didn’t allow a follow-up question to anyone - not even her. And he was equally brusque in wading in to stop them answering her question about the Polecat’s Barnard Castle day out.

But none of this appeared out of the ordinary: Ms Kuenssberg has been caught excusing the Tories before and there has been no comeback, such as the occasion when she effectively took dictation from Matthew Elliott after the Vote Leave was judged to have broken the law: the BBC then reported that they had merely “broken the rules”.

Then, with the country still locked down, and holiday opportunities strictly limited - as in, limited to one’s own home - she enigmatically and rather briefly told yesterday afternoon “Not around for a few days - keep up with [BBC News] and [BBC Politics]". Where’s she going? Is this something voluntary? Has it been forced upon her?

As with so many of these episodes, the nature of the rolling 24-hour news speculatron is that it abhors a vacuum, and so the search is now on for something to fill the void. Sadly, the best that some have come up with is a snippet from several years ago which has precisely zero relevance to Ms K’s current situation.

That snippet was her move from the BBC to ITV back in 2011, when she became the latter’s business editor. Or, as Radio Times put it at the time, “[she] will lead the channel’s analysis of the latest business stories, both in the UK and internationally - making her the equivalent of the BBC’s Robert Peston”. Now here’s a thing, Hugh.

But even without the distraction of that old story, the speculation has begun. And for every friendly Tweeter responding “Switch your phone off and have a great break”, there were several others firing back “We might get some actual reported news for a change”, or asking “You been sanctioned too?” The name of Emily Maitlis was pitched in response.

And of course her links to those inside 10 Downing Street were brought up, with Crispian Wheldon posting a photo of her and the Polecat with the pointed question “Going anywhere nice?” Peter Oborne’s criticism of her and Robert Peston got several mentions.

So what gives with Ms Kuenssberg? Taking a few days off while the country is in lockdown and in the middle of a significantly sized national crisis? Curiouser and curiouser.

There is one further problem: the BBC will manage fine without her. I’ll just leave that one there.

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