London
The horrors of Soho House’s country outpost
It is summer and the listless metropolitan thinks of grass. It cannot afford to stay at Durslade Farmhouse, Somerset, a…
The true meaning of Sadiq Khan’s claims to virtue
The new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he wanted ‘the most transparent, honest and accessible administration London has ever…
Meet London’s senior mayor (no, it’s not Sadiq)
London’s other mayor How many people could name the capital’s other mayor, the Lord Mayor of London? The office, officially…
Cycling in Lycra is bad for the soul
Cycling in funny clothes is bad for the soul
Making friends with the axeman next door
What happened when I tried American neighbourliness in London
Why it makes sense to buy your banker lunch
We recently moved -offices from Canary Wharf to Blackfriars bridge. When you move after a long time in one place,…
Down and Out in Paris and London is a chav safari
Down and Out in Paris and London is a brilliant specimen from a disreputable branch of writing: the chav safari,…
The most beautiful restaurant in London – from the outside
Batman owned the Criterion in The Dark Knight, but could he do anything about British Telecom? Savini at Criterion, an…
The 90th birthday present that the Queen really wants
The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations start this week with the real thing and barely stop until her official birthday in…
The Parliament Hill Café is awful. I’m sorry they saved it
The Parliament Hill Café is a drab glass box at the bottom of Hampstead Heath, near the farmers’ market and…
After 50 years, I’m out of the agony-aunt business
It’s clear that Vladimir Putin has had a facelift, which might explain why Wendi Deng would take an interest in…
Zac's campaign is as good as over; Labour will retake London
The Labour plotters who dream of ousting Jeremy Corbyn had high hopes for the local elections on 5 May. They…
Bellanger review: a posh Islington restaurant for semi-ordinary people
Islington is a bellwether, and also a joke: the most unequal borough in London, where social housing leans against £4…
Why Britain (and Europe) depends on migrants
It’s not about economics. It’s about our snobbish, slobbish culture
The social cleansing of London — and other capital crimes
You have to get nearly halfway through this book before it starts to show some life. Until that point, as…
The new Wheeler’s is the worst thing Marco Pierre White has ever done
Wheeler’s is such a dreadful restaurant that I wonder if Marco Pierre White even knows his name is on it.…
The smelly, snobbish death of the English public toilet
I blame Nancy Mitford: she made the English so frightened of saying ‘toilet’ that now they have hardly any left…
Anarchy in the EU: the Sex Pistols’ drummer on why Brexit isn’t punk
Paul Cook, the Sex Pistols’ drummer, on fame, notoriety and why Brexit wouldn’t be punk
A bookseller’s guide to book thieves
At my shop, it seems to be everyone from students to organised professional gangs
Pharmacy 2 makes me like Damien Hirst
Pharmacy 2 is the reanimated child of Damien Hirst; it lives inside the Newport Street Gallery in a forsaken patch of…
Boris and Dave’s schoolboy rivalry is journalistic wishful thinking
The Prime Minister is pretty angry with Boris. But the idea that they’ve competed with each other since school is…
Dear Mary: new neighbours want me to provide a ready-made social scene
Q. Former colleagues, with whom I got on very well in the context of the office, are buying a house…
Sartoria: the home of Savile Row’s men who lunch
Sartoria is a pale grey restaurant on Savile Row. As evidence that this is London’s destination street — if menswear…
There’s one real way to stop gang crime: legalise drugs
Brutal, needless stabbings on our city streets will never cease until drugs are legalised
What's that thing? Britain's worst public art
Bad public art pollutes our townscapes. Stephen Bayley names and shames the worst offenders as he unveils the winner of The Spectator’s inaugural What’s That Thing? Award
