Laura Kuenssberg quits BBC to join ITV News
Popular chief political correspondent will be ITV's new business editor
Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC's popular and highly rated political correspondent, is to leave the corporation in September and take up a new role as business editor for ITV News. She will also contribute to the current affairs strand Tonight.
Kuenssberg joined the BBC in 2000, but swiftly came to prominence during last year's general election. Her ability to break stories - and then fluently ad lib to camera about them for minutes on end, without hesitation - made her one of the BBC's most popular political reporters. Some had tipped her to become the BBC's first female political editor.
At ITV, Kuenssberg 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.
Kuenssberg said: "The BBC has been an integral part of my life for more than a decade and I will always be grateful for the experiences I have been given. But while families round the UK cope with the squeeze and the country grapples with making its living, moving to cover British business is an even more exciting prospect."
Kuenssberg is extremely popular on Twitter, where she has nearly 59,000 followers as @BBCLauraK. However, she today set up a new account, @ITVLauraK.
