BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg caught saying prime minister ‘didn’t answer’ her question

The BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg may have felt a bit awkward after her microphone picked up her criticism of Boris Johnson during his Downing Street press conference.

Speaking after the prime minister and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance delivered their latest statements on coronavirus, Kuenssberg quizzed Johnson on foreign travel.

“Should members of the public be booking holidays or not, whether at home or abroad, given the transport secretary [Grant Shapps] warned people against booking anything at all,” she asked.

Johnson responded by saying that it is “illegal” to go on holiday, before adding that “more clarity” would be given to the public on 22 February. 

The date will see the prime minister reveal his “roadmap” out of the current national lockdown, which was introduced at the start of January.

After Johnson and Vallance responded to Kuenssberg’s questions, the PM moved on to ITV News’ science editor, Tom Clarke.

However, seemingly without realising her microphone was still on, the BBC journalist uttered: “Ugh, he didn’t answer the question there.”

Fellow reporters were quick to point out the mishap, with some saying Kuenssberg “speaks for the nation”:

Meanwhile HuffPost UK’s Paul Waugh commented on the “pained stoicism” behind Kuenssberg’s response, calling for follow-up questions to make a comeback:

Kuenssberg isn’t the only journalist to appear to fall victim to technical difficulties during a coronavirus press conference, either.

In March, ITV News’ political editor Robert Peston was heard muttering “oh sh*t” as he struggled to ask Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, his question:

While Peston later clarified that his computer screen froze at “precisely the moment” Sunak called upon him, Kuenssberg is yet to comment on her own blunder.