Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg guests: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on talk show ahead of Tory Party Conference

Laura Kuenssberg will be joined by three guests for her Sunday morning political talk show which will air live on the morning of the Conservative Party Conference. 

Last week, following an unexplained absence, Kuenssberg was replaced by Victoria Derbyshire on the political talk show. However, Laura will be back on top form tomorrow with some very high profile guests and is set to ask some tough questions. 

The show began back in September 2022 replacing The Andrew Marr Show, which ran from 2005 - 2021 with the BBC’s former political editor Laura Kuenssberg coming on board as the main host. 

Each week Kuenssberg interviews politicians, experts, and public figures about the big news stories from the past week.

These are the guests on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this week:

Is Rishi Sunak on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this week?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will appear on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on the next episode, broadcast on 1 October. 

Kuenssberg will ask the Prime Minister about his reputation - Sunak has attempted to present himself as a safe pair of hands following the chaotic 49 day premiership. But this image has been challenged by recent scandals including school closures over RAAC at the start of the new term, and major policy U turns.

Kuenssberg also hinted in a piece for the BBC published today, that she will take the PM to task over his refusal to commit to continuation of HS2, and changes to net zero projects.

The interview comes as Sunak’s popularity hits a new low, as per a YouGov poll published last week which showed his favourability rating now stands at -45, whilst that of the Conservative Party as a whole is even lower, at -48. 

Comparatively, the same poll has Labour Leader Keir Starmer’s rating at -25 and the Labour Party at -15.

Sunak’s sitdown with Kuenssberg will provide him with an opportunity to gain the electorate’s confidence and secure a boost in the polls.

Who else is on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this week?

On hand to challenge the Prime Minister is Wes Streeting, shadow secretary of state for Health and Social Care, and MP for Ilford North. He has previously appeared on the show in December 2022 and May of this year.

Streeting became an MP in 2015 and was made Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in April 2020, holding the position for six months. In October 2020 he was made Shadow Minister for Schools and in May 2021 he became Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty. Since November 2021 he has been Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Also joining Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday is acclaimed actress Dame Helen Mirren who will pay tribute to her close friend, Michael Gambon, star of Harry Potter and Gosford Park, who died on Wednesday aged 82.

Mirren starred alongside Gambon in Gosford Park and in the romantic drama The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. Her other well known roles include playing Elizabeth II in The Queen, and featuring as the narrator on Barbie. She has two upcoming projects in the works - thriller movie Sniff, and crime drama Switzerland.

When is the Conservative Party Conference 2023?

This year’s Conservative Party Conference will be held in Manchester from Sunday 1 October to Wednesday 4 October. The first item on the agenda is an afternoon session on Sunday which will begin at 2pm and will include speeches from Greg Hands, Grant Shapps, and James Cleverly, among others. 

Rishi Sunak is scheduled to speak at the conference on the final session on Wednesday morning - he will follow leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt, and Minister of State Johnny Mercer.