SP
Norman Smith's name would probably be in the hat too, but I'd have said that Laura Kuenssberg has been Political-Editor-in-waiting for quite some time.
The way her supposed role of monitoring social media at the General Election morphed into the same kind of analysis Nick Robinson and Andrew Marr were providing looked very much like an on-air audition for the gig.
It certainly wouldn't be a "token woman" appointment, she's got the experience including a stint at Editor level at ITN. It's interesting that you have to go back to John Cole to find the last BBC Political Editor who isn't a graduate of either Oxford or Cambridge. Of the names mentioned in this thread so far, all except Laura are also products of Oxbridge. It's a sweeping and inaccurate generalisation, but somebody with a different background may not attract so many accusations of being part of the old boys network and claims of pro-Tory bias as Nick Robinson has.
The way her supposed role of monitoring social media at the General Election morphed into the same kind of analysis Nick Robinson and Andrew Marr were providing looked very much like an on-air audition for the gig.
It certainly wouldn't be a "token woman" appointment, she's got the experience including a stint at Editor level at ITN. It's interesting that you have to go back to John Cole to find the last BBC Political Editor who isn't a graduate of either Oxford or Cambridge. Of the names mentioned in this thread so far, all except Laura are also products of Oxbridge. It's a sweeping and inaccurate generalisation, but somebody with a different background may not attract so many accusations of being part of the old boys network and claims of pro-Tory bias as Nick Robinson has.