Mary Wakefield

Mary Wakefield is commissioning editor of The Spectator.

In praise of the pit bull

7 May 2015 1:00 pm

Last night I saw a woman dancing with a pit bull terrier. It was about 9 p.m. and her curtains…

Original sin makes us better people. I wish Muslims believed in it

11 April 2015 9:00 am

These days, on the subject of Islam, non-Muslims have mostly divided into two camps — though there’s a little wandering…

Original sin makes us better people. I wish Muslims believed in it

9 April 2015 1:00 pm

These days, on the subject of Islam, non-Muslims have mostly divided into two camps — though there’s a little wandering…

How do bright schoolgirls fall for jihadis? The same way they fall for Justin Bieber

28 February 2015 9:00 am

How could they? How could girls brought up in the wealthy West abandon their families and their own bright futures…

Why do bright schoolgirls run away to Syria?

26 February 2015 11:30 am

How could they? How could girls brought up in the wealthy West abandon their families and their own bright futures…

Do I really care about Ebola? Do you? Does Oxfam?

31 January 2015 9:00 am

It’s strange how quickly we all forgot about Ebola. Speak for yourself, you might say — and I will. Until…

Do I care about Liberia? Do you? Does Oxfam?

29 January 2015 3:00 pm

It’s strange how quickly we all forgot about Ebola. Speak for yourself, you might say — and I will. Until…

The real reason GPs are grumpy: the robots are coming for them

17 January 2015 9:00 am

There’s something wrong with the relationship between patients and their GPs. I’ve spent much of this winter in my local…

Would you put your life in the care of Dr Droid?

15 January 2015 3:00 pm

There’s something wrong with the relationship between patients and their GPs. I’ve spent much of this winter in my local…

Are old fairy stories too scary for kids?

13 December 2014 9:00 am

Moving house, stacking books in boxes, I came across a clutch of fairy books, Andrew Lang’s folk tales from around…

Why scary fairy stories are the best

11 December 2014 3:00 pm

Moving house, stacking books in boxes, I came across a clutch of fairy books, Andrew Lang’s folk tales from around…

Patriotism isn’t uncivilised - it’s what makes civilisation possible

22 November 2014 9:00 am

Is it racist to be patriotic? Is patriotism, by definition, small-minded and exclusive? When you strip away the onion layers…

Without patriotism, there’s no civilisation

20 November 2014 3:00 pm

Is it racist to be patriotic? Is patriotism, by definition, small-minded and exclusive? When you strip away the onion layers…

What are 16-year-olds supposed to learn by making posters?

25 October 2014 9:00 am

My niece, Lara, 15, has a mind like a surgical blade. On any subject, from calculus to The X Factor,…

Why are kids making posters for their GCSEs?

23 October 2014 2:00 pm

My niece, Lara, 15, has a mind like a surgical blade. On any subject, from calculus to The X Factor,…

Why there’s no such thing as an Etonian

11 October 2014 9:00 am

Finally, just in the last few years I’d say, we’ve all begun to accept the role of nature in the…

There’s no such thing as an Etonian

9 October 2014 2:00 pm

Finally, just in the last few years I’d say, we’ve all begun to accept the role of nature in the…

Joshua Milton Blahyi in 1996

Is forgiveness a weapon in the war on terror?

27 September 2014 8:00 am

Could you ever torture someone? Could you, under different circumstances, in a different world (I hope) than the one which…

Joshua Milton Blahyi in 1996

Can brutalised jihadis be saved?

25 September 2014 1:00 pm

Could you ever torture someone? Could you, under different circumstances, in a different world (I hope) than the one which…

A perfectionist at work, 1937

The perfectionist builder I always wanted

13 September 2014 9:00 am

I have a friend who is perhaps best described by that old-fashioned phrase ‘ladies’ man’. He’s not a cad or…

Revealed: The hidden crisis in Britain's ambulance services

30 August 2014 9:00 am

Britain’s ambulance services are in crisis. When will the government notice?

The ambulance service is in a state of emergency

19 July 2014 9:00 am

Tom leant back against the bathroom wall, his face streaked with blood from the nosebleed, eyes half shut like an…

The ambulance service is in a state of emergency

17 July 2014 1:00 pm

Tom leant back against the bathroom wall, his face streaked with blood from the nosebleed, eyes half shut like an…

The voice of Big Mother does more for women than any Twitter feminist

5 July 2014 9:00 am

Feminism in modern Britain is not for the faint-hearted. Only the smartest, mouthiest girls on the social media scene dare…

The reassuring triumph of Big Mother

3 July 2014 1:00 pm

Feminism in modern Britain is not for the faint-hearted. Only the smartest, mouthiest girls on the social media scene dare…