Marie Le Conte
02 September 2026
Here’s the problem with that nice summer holiday you just had
You’ve come back exhausted, with loads of stuff to do, and facing the prospect of a grim autumn of politics. As for me – this year I did things a little differently
Read the full article26 August 2026
The moral panic over MPs’ freebies is now out of control
Elected politicians have to declare everything they receive, so we get to see whether they've been swayed by it. That’s balance enough
Read the full article19 August 2026
The TV documentary that gets ADHD all wrong
A show on Channel 4 says the condition has nothing to do with the brain, but is environmental. I have ADHD – I can tell you, that's dead wrong
Read the full article19 August 2026
Excuse me, but why are you swimming so damn slowly?
If you pick a lane at the lido then you need to move at the right speed – and if not, then what on earth are you thinking?
Read the full article13 August 2026
Liberté! Egalité! Royalties! French newspapers take on Google
French newspapers are mad as hell with Google for using their content in their AI search results – so now 300 of them are suing
Read the full article11 August 2026
Frida Kahlo and the culture war over women’s pain
We celebrate suffering in art - so why are we so keen to dismiss it in life?
Read the full article05 August 2026
Burnham’s How To Fail episode teaches us all a lesson
The new PM says his biggest lessons have been learned in defeat. He’s right, and we have become too quick to dismiss politicians the moment they stumble
Read the full article05 August 2026
Why everyone in parliament is always pissed: I know – I used to be one of them
Everywhere you turn, people are handing you a drink. In your 20s, it can be quite fun. But as the years drag on, the problems start
Read the full article30 July 2026
I’m sorry, but Zack Polanski has got a point about not apologising to Farage
The row over a T-shirt shows the Green leader is not ready for the political big time - but Reform’s hypocrisy is ludicrous
Read the full article29 July 2026
Who the hell thought Make Tax Digital was a good idea?
The self-employed now have to report to HMRC each quarter. It’s time-consuming, expensive and hopeless
Read the full article23 July 2026
What Andy Burnham can learn from, er… Marine Le Pen?
Yes, her party and policies might be morally repulsive, but Le Pen is a canny operator, especially when it comes to one part of the political game
Read the full article20 July 2026
The mystery of Andy Burnham’s missing bookshelves
We can’t really read the new prime minister if we don’t know what he reads
Read the full article17 July 2026
The trouble with Andy Burnham’s place-first politics
The new PM should be careful about talking up the importance of where you're from
Read the full article15 July 2026
Kemi Badenoch’s incredible shrinking Tory party
By throwing out everyone she disagrees with, Badenoch is making the Tories both narrow and insular – and people don’t vote for parties like that
Read the full article10 July 2026
My night watching the World Cup’s cruellest fixture
I thought supporting both teams would be a win-win. It stopped feeling like one shortly after kick-off
Read the full article08 July 2026
Le Pen may have made an even bigger blunder than Farage
France’s far right presidential candidate could end up campaigning while wearing an electronic tag
Read the full article06 July 2026
How I learned to hate the great British heatwave
I used to pray for days of 30-degree temperatures. But this year, something has shifted
Read the full article22 June 2026
I didn’t rate Starmer as PM – so why do I feel so sad?
The hope of May 2024 has been squandered, and Andy Burnham is unlikely to revive it
Read the full article19 June 2026
Burnham won, but he’s got all the same flaws as Starmer
Burnham is precisely the opposite of what Labour and Britain need from a new PM
Read the full article18 June 2026
The strange cult of the loneliness influencers
Social media's latest lifestyle gurus are all about staying in. But what if stylish solitude is your idea of hell?
Read the full article12 June 2026
Jacob Rees-Mogg promised I could stay in Britain. Now I’m worried he was wrong
The British state did a deal with me years ago that allowed me to live here and be a European at the same time. I am not going to change my side of the bargain, no matter what happens
Read the full article10 June 2026
How to be an extrovert
Becoming more sociable isn't about changing who you are, but taking a chance. It’s worth the risk
Read the full article05 June 2026
I’m 34, with £1,600 in my pension. When can I retire in comfort?
It's petrifying, but I’m one of the three-quarters of UK workers who aren't on course for a "moderate pension income"
Read the full article01 June 2026
Should we relax about phone use at the cinema?
Rosamund Pike was right to call out a texting theatregoer. But is a new approach needed?
Read the full article29 May 2026
The NHS has let women down. Now, social media is taking advantage
Online spaces are being colonised by those hoping to profit from the lack of information and help available in women’s healthcare
Read the full article27 May 2026
I thought my teenage years would last for ever. Then they were deleted
There are good reasons for some old websites to expire, but huge amounts of personal history go with them
Read the full article20 May 2026
There is no more room for failures. Andy Burnham, you’ve been warned
A prime minister cannot trample over parliament. It doesn’t work that way and the ones who try it invariably go down in flames. Whoever follows Starmer into No 10 should keep that in mind
Read the full article20 May 2026
I boycotted Eurovision.. now the World Cup is next
I love football, and I love big international tournaments – but it will be impossible to watch Donald Trump’s tournament and enjoy it
Read the full article12 May 2026
Britain needs a prime minister in the real world. That’s not Keir Starmer
As a leader, Starmer was meant to be rigorous. But he turned out to be just as flimsy as his predecessors
Read the full article08 May 2026
How Rosalía put on the best show of the year
Her blend of pop, opera, goth, techno and Catholicism, performed in over a dozen languages, requires a huge effort of will to hold it all together. She was more than up to the task
Read the full article04 May 2026
Smartphones have become just too good
There was a sweet spot back in the 2010s when they were good, but not so good that they overwhelmed your entire life. Until recently, I had a phone like that. And then I got an upgrade. Big mistake
Read the full article01 May 2026
It’s official: AI hates women
A UN report shows that women are increasingly targeted by sophisticated forms of violence online. For us, the golden days of the internet are long gone
Read the full article