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Melanie McDonagh

Melanie McDonagh

The Spectator

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Too much green / Did Hannah Spencer’s outfit distract from her maiden speech?

Hannah Spencer’s maiden speech in the Commons – a cheerful and upbeat performance – was pegged to International Women’s Day. We learned that...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Did Hannah Spencer’s outfit distract from her maiden speech?

Hannah Spencer’s maiden speech in the Commons – a cheerful and upbeat performance – was pegged to International Women’s Day. We learned that...

friday 7

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Turnip Prize / Tracey Emin’s victimhood is a poor foundation for art

It was a given that the critics would indulge in emotional onanism when they covered the Tracey Emin retrospective at the Tate Modern – apt enough...

08.03.2026 8

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Tracey Emin’s victimhood is a poor foundation for art

It was a given that the critics would indulge in emotional onanism when they covered the Tracey Emin retrospective at the Tate Modern – apt enough...

07.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Was Picasso a Catholic artist?

There’s a new exhibition on Picasso which is actually transgressive: Picasso and the Bible. That promises to stir things up among worshippers of...

04.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Don’t remove Andrew from the line of succession

The Sun, as ever, put it pithily: ‘Andrew’s Out of Line’, its front page says today. ‘Shamed Royal to be Axed from Royal Succession’. It is...

21.02.2026 300

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

The two missing words in the King’s Andrew statement

There are, you’ll note, two little words missing from the King’s statement on Andrew’s arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. ‘I...

20.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

The two missing words in the King’s Andrew statement

There are, you’ll note, two little words missing from the King’s statement on Andrew’s arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. ‘I...

19.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Gruffalo Granny / Do we need another Gruffalo book?

09.02.2026 9

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

The Epstein files are a reminder that emails live forever

06.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

The Epstein files are a reminder that emails live forever

05.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Film / The enigma of Melania Trump

02.02.2026 6

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Are more fathers about to lose access to their children?

18.01.2026 20

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Why are the number of abortions so high?

16.01.2026 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Hot cross buns are for Easter, not for life

16.01.2026 20

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Holy spirits / What makes a ghost Catholic or Protestant?

25.12.2025 20

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Banning trail hunting is part of Labour’s endless culture war

21.12.2025 9

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

What humans can learn from mice about monogamy

11.12.2025 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Books / Witches, dragons and the Terrible Deev: a choice of this year’s children’s books

03.12.2025 9

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Books / Witches, dragons and the Terrible Deev: a choice of this year’s children’s books

01.12.2025 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Books / Witches, dragons and the Terrible Deev: a choice of this year’s children’s books

01.12.2025 3

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

The genius of William Nicholson

27.11.2025 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Would you pay £65 for toothpaste?

23.11.2025 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Moment of tooth / Would you pay £65 for toothpaste?

20.11.2025 9

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Ireland / Catherine Connolly’s victory was no landslide

27.10.2025 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

The issues that will haunt the new Archbishop of Canterbury

03.10.2025 4

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

There’s something vulgar about Freemasons

30.09.2025 30

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Right priorities / I like Pope Leo

15.09.2025 6

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

In Our Time won’t be the same without Melvyn Bragg

03.09.2025 6

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Exhibitions / The masterpieces of Sussex’s radical Christian commune

05.08.2025 7

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

The masterpieces of Sussex’s radical Christian commune

31.07.2025 4

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Radical to the end / The subversive genius of Tom Lehrer

29.07.2025 4

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

We should be outraged by Lily Allen’s ‘four or five’ abortions

04.07.2025 4

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Should Chris Coghlan be denied Holy Communion?

30.06.2025 9

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Diane Abbott’s masterful Assisted Dying speech will come back to haunt us

20.06.2025 5

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

MPs have opened the door to infanticide

18.06.2025 7

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Why isn’t the BBC telling us what caused the Ballymena riots?

12.06.2025 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Junk mail / Who stamped out the postal service?

13.05.2025 10

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Pope Leo probably isn’t that liberal

09.05.2025 4

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Junk mail / Who stamped out the postal service?

09.05.2025 4

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh

Does Leo see himself as an American Pope?

09.05.2025 5

The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh