Crunch time for by-election candidates

Dear Londoners — Happy Monday, what do you have planned this week? Perhaps a meal at a new restaurant, a walk around your local landmarks, or a trip to the theatre?

More likely than not, wherever you go, there will be people filming and taking pictures with their phones. And it’s not just influencers like the ones stationed up and down Carnaby Street who are at it, but members of the public too. Even inside previously verboten venues like the theatre and the cinema, there’s an ongoing battle to stop people whipping out their phones. And despite repeated calls to cut it out – like the most recent one from Cate Blanchett (see below) – things don’t really seem to be changing.

Is this just the price we all pay for living in a famous city? Everything here can become shareable content. An argument at a bus stop or a sunset view from a bridge, a political protest or a pistachio latte, people are constantly recording their experiences of London to show the rest of the world. As Blanchett says, “it is kind of flattering, in a way”. But do we need a few more ground rules? Let us know what you think in the comments, or email editor@the-londoner.co.uk

By-election crunch time

The reality of how little time is left to campaign for the Holborn and Saint Pancras seems to be setting in for candidates. Zack Polanski’s team reportedly asked for the Green Party’s upcoming annual conference in Brighton to be postponed to avoid spreading resources too thin. But the party’s executive committee voted against the idea last week. Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali, meanwhile, is unlikely to go to Labour Conference this year, according to an interview in The Times. It will be her first time in a decade not attending. And with the full list of candidates now decided and three weeks to go, there’s already a row emerging about who should stand for the north London seat.