The BBC political editor said the campaign against her would not work. Ms Kuenssberg, who is the first woman to lead the BBC’s political coverage, has previously been accused of bias in her reporting of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Some angry supporters of Mr Corbyn, whose rallying cry in 2015 was for a “kinder, gentler politics”, directed their fury at Ms Kuenssberg in the form of threats and personal attacks.

Speaking at a Jewish Care business lunch in November 2017, she said: “I didn’t aspire to have the finger pointed at me.

“What they are trying to do is silence me.”

It was the first time Ms Kuenssberg had spoken publicly about online abuse since the BBC was forced to hire a security guard for her protection.

The corporation decided to hire a security detail to accompany her as she toured the UK during the 2017 general election.

She was also protected by bodyguards while reporting from Labour Party Conference in September 2017.

At the Jewish Care event in November, Ms Kuenssberg was interviewed by her boss, director of BBC News James Harding.

She told Mr Harding: “No matter how unpleasant and personal it might be, it is not as bad as what other journalists face around the world in much more difficult circumstances.”

That said, senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper said the misogyny directed at the BBC reporter was “straight out of the Trump playbook”.

In the November 2017 interview, Ms Kuenssberg predicted that Prime Minister Theresa May would cling on in Downing Street until 2019 – which turned out to be true.

Mrs May resigned in May 2019 after she failed to get her Brexit deal through Parliament for a third time.

An internal leadership election within the Conservative Party left Boris Johnson victorious, but the new Prime Minister discovered yesterday that Parliament will not make life easy for him.

Rebel MPs forced through a Bill that would compel Mr Johnson to request a three-month Brexit extension if a deal is not negotiated by October 19.

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This throws a spanner in the works for Mr Johnson’s pledge to take the UK out of the EU by the October 31 deadline – deal or no deal, “do or die”.

The Prime Minister then proposed a general election, which was voted down by Opposition parties.

Mr Johnson will today accuse Mr Corbyn of “a cowardly insult to democracy” for refusing to back a general election.

The Labour leader whipped his MPs to abstain on the Bill that would see an election held on October 15, two weeks before the Brexit deadline.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell insisted that Labour wanted an election, but its priority was stopping a no deal Brexit.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr Corbyn’s right-hand man said he would prefer an election “later rather than sooner”.

Meanwhile, the Bill to prevent a no deal on October 31 is expected to complete its passage through the Lords on Friday.

In a speech later today, Mr Johnson will attack “the surrender bill” for allowing more “dither and delay” on Brexit.

Regarding the Bill, a Number 10 spokesman said: “It would in essence overturn the biggest democratic vote in our history – the 2016 referendum. 

“The Prime Minister will not do this.”

Ms Kuenssberg said last night: “A senior Labour MP has just said Jeremy Corbyn told him tonight he would not allow Boris Johnson to have an election before October 31.”

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