Marie Le Conte
08 January 2024
Keir Starmer’s hidden promise
It was there, buried in his New Year’s speech – almost everybody missed it
Read the full article03 January 2024
Is this the year everything changes?
It’s time for British politics to leave its Groundhog Day nightmare
Read the full article20 December 2023
A traditional Yuletide kebab
I’m happy to come from a family where all we need to have a great time is some grilled meat, a few cans of cheap beer and each other’s company
Read the full article19 December 2023
Why has Rishi Sunak got it in for me?
We only met once and since then he’s been trying to ruin my life. Sort of
Read the full article16 December 2023
Welcome to the end of the Internet
Taylor Swift’s crowning as TIME’s Person of the Year is a prime example that our culture must appeal to the lowest common denominator
Read the full article12 December 2023
Why the Rwanda plan reminds me of my Communist youth
Their absurd arguments are cover for their own impending irrelevance
Read the full article10 December 2023
Elon Musk scrambled X – and politics
The social media site is a mess. The Mayor of Paris has just left it, and as more high profile individuals leave, it will fade into irrelevance
Read the full article05 December 2023
Pulling up the immigration ladder
Immigrants are entrepreneurial and hard working – why shut them out?
Read the full article29 November 2023
Rishi Sunak, the prickly PM
Tetchy, thin-skinned, used to getting your own way? Then politics isn’t for you, Mr Sunak
Read the full article29 November 2023
What do the French make of Napoleon?
Ridley Scott’s epic didn’t exactly win over viewers in France
Read the full article26 November 2023
Covid and the fear of freedom
When lockdown ended, I was ecstatic. But other people had a very different reaction
Read the full article15 November 2023
London deserves better than Greg Hands as its minister
The capital’s representatives in government have been too male, too pale and too stale
Read the full article13 November 2023
The return of a familiar character
David Cameron is back, and that’s not a good sign for the Tories
Read the full article09 November 2023
You need to watch the Covid Inquiry. Oh yes you do
We’ve been pretending for too long that nothing happened. But it did. And we need to talk about it
Read the full article08 November 2023
The French language is not set in amber
The opening of the International French Language Centre embraces the evolution of the language in a globalised world
Read the full article07 November 2023
A society that doesn’t value parenthood
Life for most people under 40 has been made needlessly complicated by this government. Making parenthood unaffordable is just one example
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30 October 2023
The end of Twitter Circles
Elon Musk wants you right where he can see you
Read the full article18 October 2023
As an immigrant, I felt unwelcome at the Tory conference
For the first time in a long time, I struggled not to take Braverman’s rhetoric personally
Read the full article04 October 2023
Non, the French don’t really want a monarchy
We are actually fond of the British royal family – we just refuse to be showy about it
Read the full article20 September 2023
Even this move towards the EU feels underwhelming
After the clown show of Johnson and Truss, Keir Starmer is reassuringly sensible. But will that be enough to save Britain?
Read the full article13 September 2023
Don’t forget the small joys of British life
A recent family visit reminded me of the British traditions designed to lift our spirits
Read the full article23 August 2023
My French friends are homeward bound
A new government scheme could make Britain appear more attractive to young Europeans. It’s frustrating that it is only now being trialled
Read the full article26 July 2023
How I fell for French music – eventually
Music isn’t something the French have ever truly excelled at. But, I’m slowly being won over
Read the full article12 July 2023
The English are hard to read
The English are obsessed by class, yet their reluctance to discuss it gives very little away
Read the full article21 June 2023
Why you hate the summertime
The British love the idea of summer. But then the temperatures rise and people begin to frown
Read the full article07 June 2023
Vienna’s war against the passing of time
History never seems to pass in Vienna and this will always be the case
Read the full article24 May 2023
Welcome to a golden age of socialising
London is embracing the European approach to socialising and hosting guests at home. Why? No one can afford to go out any more
Read the full article10 May 2023
The other side of the French art of protest
Activism is a normal part of the French experience. In Britain? Not so much
Read the full article26 April 2023
Where hope springs eternal under grey skies
Each year, spring toys with our emotions but the wait makes its delights all the sweeter
Read the full article22 September 2022
The city where three bridges is too far
Each of Venice’s 1,000 islands carries its own world. What happened when a Londoner (originally from France) moved there?
Read the full article21 December 2021
Could Liz Truss be our next prime minister?
Her speeches and social media have played up her clownish, Johnsonian side, but she has managed to have a better 2021 than the PM and her other rivals.
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