Marie Le Conte
13 December 2024
French politics: a question without an answer
Macron seems to think his new choice of prime minister is the answer to France’s problems. He might be the only one who does
Read the full article11 December 2024
Dilettante: How travel made me a die-hard sports fan
Watching a game with people supporting the same team as you is one of the most deeply social experiences you can have
Read the full article05 December 2024
Welcome to Britain’s next political scandal
A large, powerful industry has been courting and even recruiting MPs in Westminster. It could all end in disaster
Read the full article04 December 2024
France is on fire, but life goes on
The country is in a tunnel and there is no light at the end of it. But I still need to get my hair cut
Read the full article29 November 2024
Badenoch’s dangerous lurch into the online swamp
Telling small groups of people that they will be taken seriously if only they shout loudly enough is damaging for democracy
Read the full article27 November 2024
Why I'm conflicted about the implosion of Twitter
That we have seemingly managed to beat Elon Musk should be cause for celebration. Why, then, do I have this uneasiness about it?
Read the full article20 November 2024
Does anyone care about Rachel Reeves’ CV?
The right wing press love it, but this ‘scandal’ will join Angela Rayner’s flat and Keir Starmer’s lockdown beer in being quickly forgotten
Read the full article20 November 2024
November in Britain is a time for getting sozzled
New Yorkers get to be abstemious, at least most of the time, because their weather allows it. Not so here
Read the full article16 November 2024
You’ve left Twitter and moved to Bluesky: here’s what you need to know
As users joining the “Xodus” are discovering, the platform is very different from Elon Musk’s kingdom
Read the full article13 November 2024
It's time to say goodbye to America
Americans aren’t my people, not for one great reason but for a thousand small ones
Read the full article07 November 2024
America, the country that went off the deep end
Europeans watch Friends and eat burgers and think we understand America. Then elections like this make us realise we really don’t
Read the full article06 November 2024
Getting drunk as the election unfolds
The night started with nauseous optimism. Then came vodka and gloom
Read the full article02 November 2024
Meeting MAGA in the deep south
A journey through North and South Carolina reveals the widening gap between the current Trumpian GOP and the party it used to be
Read the full article29 October 2024
Meet the Ukrainians who could win it for Kamala
A diaspora of 120,000 in Pennsylvania fear Trump and could turn a state he lost by just 80,000 votes last time
Read the full article28 October 2024
In the queue for Trump, the ‘biggest rock star’
The hordes outside Madison Square Garden looked normal. What they talked about was anything but
Read the full article19 October 2024
The mysterious rise of Robert Jenrick
He has no charisma, intellectual consistency or distinguishing features of any kind. Other than being very, very right wing, who – or what – is he?
Read the full article16 October 2024
For the self-employed, parenting feels impossible
Labour failed to look at the maternity allowance before publishing the Employment Rights Bill
Read the full article15 October 2024
Confronting the truth about Alex Salmond
There are far too many questions over the former first minister's behaviour towards women for warm eulogies
Read the full article09 October 2024
What happened, James Cleverly?
The leadership race increasingly looks like the last hurrah before the party's long descent
Read the full article09 October 2024
Dilettante: The internet I loved is disappearing fast
Online life has changed over the past five years or so, and not for the better. The algorithm has taken over entirely
Read the full article06 October 2024
What’s the point of party conferences?
It’s nice for politicians to be able to hide from the real world for a while, it’s just a shame there’s a real world out there to fix
Read the full article02 October 2024
Can we rage against the machines?
Artificial intelligence is ruining the internet we once loved
Read the full article26 September 2024
Labour promised to clean up politics. When does it start?
Ministers are kicking back over Freebiegate, but Fleet Street loves nothing more than a story that runs and runs
Read the full article25 September 2024
Rage against the dying of the right
The Tory papers are relishing the chance to bash Labour. But with sliding circulations and their pals out of power, are they still relevant?
Read the full article23 September 2024
Labour’s hungover conference
The one thing you can rely on at party get-togethers is lots of booze
Read the full article19 September 2024
We deserve better lives and deaths
Labour and Tories are both divided on assisted dying – so long as that political uncertainty continues, Britain isn’t a safe place for vulnerable people
Read the full article18 September 2024
Dilettante: on scandals
That Keir Starmer has been letting a millionaire buy him and his wife clothes is not some life-shattering betrayal, but it is a betrayal nonetheless
Read the full article14 September 2024
A home of one’s own
The end of no fault evictions is music to the ears
Read the full article11 September 2024
Dilettante: on bad shopping
It is not an easy thing to say, but buying things online – specifically cheap, poorly made things – should not be as easy as it currently is
Read the full article05 September 2024
Michel Barnier: a Macronic miscalculation
The French president’s new choice of PM shows that his political project has ended in failure
Read the full article04 September 2024
The joyful nostalgia of band reunions
I may not be a fan of Oasis, but people’s excitement about their reunion is infectious
Read the full article31 August 2024
Starmer risks a membership vote row
Political parties belong to activists as much as they do to leaders
Read the full article