Laura Kuenssberg's Pay Attention Gets Two Major Reviews
Two national newspapers reviewed Laura Kuenssberg's book Pay Attention on 2 November 2026, and both pieces focus on the same thing: her frustration with politicians.
Kuenssberg was the BBC's political editor before moving into presenting. The political editor leads the broadcaster's coverage of Westminster, the seat of the UK government and Parliament. Pay Attention is her book.
The Guardian ran its review in the Saturday section. The reviewer calls the book a muted but heartfelt howl of frustration with politicians. The review says that politicians have "looked like an absolute shower for a long time." It also says that after more than two decades of studied neutrality, meaning a deliberately even-handed stance, Kuenssberg sets out home truths about modern politics.
The Guardian review also recalls a practical problem from her work. It says Kuenssberg needed security to do her job unobstructed at the Labour party conference while Jeremy Corbyn was leader. A party conference is the annual gathering where a party debates policy and its leaders make speeches.
The Telegraph took a different angle. Its review carries the headline "Why is Laura Kuenssberg so afraid of public opinion?" It describes Pay Attention as a political memoir, a book in which the author tells their own story, framed as a paean to the everyman. A paean is a tribute, and the everyman means the ordinary person.
So the two reviews agree on the book's subject and disagree on its mood. One reads it as a complaint about politics, the other as a question about the author's own nerve. Both appeared on the same day.
