BBC bosses have readvertised the job of political editor after being unhappy with the choice of candidates to replace Laura Kuenssberg in one of the most influential roles in British journalism.
Following weeks of interviews and an extensive recruitment process, the corporation had produced an all-female shortlist for the role, with ITV News’s Anushka Asthana and Sky News’s Sophy Ridge believed to be the final two candidates. An announcement on which of them would get the job had been expected to coincide with Kuenssberg stepping down last week.
Instead, the BBC political correspondent Chris Mason is now the favourite to land the role after bosses quietly began inviting fresh applications for the job. The recruitment page for the role of political editor has been reopened until Tuesday, although there has been no acknowledgement of this from senior staff or formal announcement from the BBC encouraging fresh applications.
Mason is widely liked across the BBC but one media industry executive pointed out the BBC could be about to reject “an all-female shortlist of brilliant women” in favour of a man.
Reopening applications will allow Mason to send in his CV – but will also make it possible for anyone else to apply and is a public sign that executives are not content with the existing range of candidates. In recent days, there had been speculation that BBC executives were unhappy with the process and were seeking other candidates for the role.
Mason did not originally apply for the job, in part because it was seen as a role for a more experienced journalist such as Jon Sopel. However, according to people with knowledge of the recruitment process, in recent days BBC bosses encouraged Mason to apply for the role, a development first reported by the Sunday Times.
Mason has been at the BBC for two decades, spending most of his career covering Westminster and becoming a frequent presence on television and radio bulletins. The 41-year-old from Grassington in North Yorkshire hosts the Friday evening show Any Questions? and was a regular on the Brexitcast podcast. His current salary is below the £150,000 threshold that has to be declared publicly.
Clearing the way for him to become political editor would enable the BBC to retain a prominent journalist who has been approached repeatedly by other commercial broadcasters such as Times Radio with job offers. However, he has still not been interviewed so any appointment could be some time off – while leaving existing candidates facing the decision of whether to pull out of the recruitment process if they believe the job has been lined up for someone else.
Other candidates who applied for the job included the BBC’s Alex Forsyth and the Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar. People linked to the role at an early stage included Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall and ITV’s Paul Brand.
The appointment will help shape the newsroom under the incoming BBC news boss, Deborah Turness, who has promised to shake up the operation but has still not been able to confirm a departure from her current role as chief executive of ITN.
There is concern in the BBC newsroom that the national broadcaster was left behind by ITV when it came to breaking Westminster stories about Downing Street’s lockdown-busting Christmas parties. While ITV News broke story after story, the BBC was left playing catch-up and reliant on leaked footage obtained by its main commercial rival. Further cuts to BBC output are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Whoever becomes BBC political editor will immediately become one of the most influential and scrutinised journalists in the country. Kuenssberg’s time in the job led to an unprecedented level of discussion of what the role of a BBC political editor should be. One key debate is the extent to which the holder of the position should be trying to break fresh news stories – or whether they should focus on stepping back and providing analysis that assertively concludes who is telling the truth.
