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Tom Holland’s Best And Funniest Viral Moments That Made Us Fall In Love With Him
Over the last few years, Tom Holland has become one of the most beloved stars in Hollywood.
With two movies currently in cinemas that are heading towards billion-dollar status – The Odyssey and Spider-Man: A Brand New Day – audiences clearly can’t get enough of the British actor.
But it’s not just his acting work that the world has fallen in love with.
Since shooting to fame as a Marvel superhero, Tom has created multiple viral moments, whether he meant it or not, while his upbeat positivity and apparent total lack of cynicism have helped him stand out from many of his peers.
Here are just some of the moments that cemented his place as one of the most popular stars around today…
That adorable childhood Billy Elliot clip
Tom’s acting career got started when he was still a child, and at the age of 12, he was cast in the West End production of Billy Elliot. He initially played Michael, Billy’s best friend, before taking on the title role.
In an unearthed clip from his West End days, a very, very young looking Tom talks about his experience auditioning for the show.
“I used to go to a street dance club,” the tiny Tom recalls. “And we did a show in White Lodge, the ballet school… and the headmaster, he spotted me. He was like ‘we want you to audition for Billy Elliot’, and I was like ‘Ah, fair do’s’… okay I’ll go for it.”
In the old interview, he talks about how “strict” his training was, claiming: “We can’t muck and just do stupid stuff on the floor because we have to be safe because you’re doing flips and dangerous stuff.”
‘I just can’t explain it’
Another childhood interview of Tom Holland came back to haunt him back in 2021, when promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home with his future wife Zendaya.
In the resurfaced clip, a young Tom was heard starting to sing, unprompted, mid-interview.
“I can’t really explain it, I haven’t got the words… it’s a feeling that you can’t control,” he belted out, seemingly from nowhere.
Zendaya has called the moment a favourite of hers, even recreating it during press for the Marvel film.
Since the clip was unearthed, it has gone on to become a popular meme, with fans and interviewers often trying to shoe-horn “I just can’t explain it,” into their exchanges with the actor.
His and Zendaya’s viral dance performance with choreographer Deja Carter
Nowadays, Tom and Zendaya are known as one of the most private and low-key romances in Hollywood, but a decade ago, the now-couple were often seen going head-to-head in online challenges on social media.
Tom, Zendaya and choreographer Deja Carter went viral in the summer of 2016 for doing an online dance known as the Typo Challenge.
It’s rare to see such candid footage of the couple in 2026, so we love seeing them hanging out in their sweatpants. The clip was apparently filmed in Zendaya’s basement during the early days of their romance.
Judging by these moves, we just know their first dance was a moment.
When he ran out of eggs during lockdown, and took rather drastic measures
Tom found a pretty resourceful way to get around the egg shortage during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the height of lockdown, Tom was as panicked as the rest of us when his local shop ran out of eggs. Instead of getting annoyed, the Marvel star and his brothers decided to take matters into their own hands, and bring home some chickens, so they would never run out of eggs.
He adopted a set of chickens, named Predator, Ranger and Chestnut, whom he raised in his garden.
“There’s no eggs; we have no eggs. So we thought to solve that problem, we would become the source of eggs. Now, we’re the owner of chickens,” he said in an Instagram video at the time.
Six years on, we still can’t stop watching Tom Holland’s shirtless handstand moment in lockdown
Tom has repeatedly become an accidental meme over the years, but in April 2020 he intentionally joined in on a viral trend.
He got involved with a social media challenge during lockdown where he did a handstand against a wall while also trying to put on a T-shirt. Impressive though the move, most people were more distracted by how ripped the young actor looked while doing it.
He had been nominated by fellow Billy Elliot alum Ollie Gardner to attempt the trick, before calling on his Spider-Man: Far From Home co-star Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and his school friend Harrison Osterfield to try it out themselves.
Jake was the first to respond, writing on his own Instagram story: “Wait, what’s the challenge??? Shirtless heavy breathing??”
The Oscar-nominated actor proceeded to do the handstand trick, although Ryan was less motivated, simply replying “no” on his own Instagram.
His lightsaber battle with Spider-Man fave Jacob Batalon
Being one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood with a huge career doesn’t stop Tom and his co-star Jacob Batalon from being big kids.
In June 2018, in honour of Tom’s 22nd birthday, Zendaya shared footage of the two Spider-Man stars having a lightsaber battle.
Filmed in a dark room that made their blue and red lightsabers pop even more, Tom got a bit overexcited during their mock duel, trying to use his Spidey skills to spin and kick his co-star, only to wind up breaking Jacob’s lightsaber completely.
“You idiot,” Zendaya could be heard saying from behind the camera.
The way he is always nearly spoiling films
Tom is a fantastic actor, a talented dancer and seems like a genuinely nice guy. Is there anything he can’t do? Well, apparently so – and that’s keeping a secret.
In fact, Tom is notorious for accidentally spoiling his films while promoting them, almost giving away huge plot points to some of the biggest movies of the last decade before any of us have had a chance to see them.
One of the earliest instances of Tom’s loose lips came during a livestream promoting Spider-Man: Homecoming, in which he told the audience about a scene where he had to be repeatedly dumped in water.
While this was only a minor spoiler, it went viral due to Tom’s panicked expression in the immediate aftermath.
Years later, his most notorious spoiler came when promoting Avengers: Infinity War.
Tom told Jimmy Kimmel that he had filmed scenes in space, letting slip a major plot point about his character – and there was even worse to come.
During a screening of that Avengers film, he didn’t realise that he would greeting audiences before the movie, rather than afterwards.
“Don’t worry everybody, I’m still alive!” he said, presuming the audience had just watched him fade away with Thanos’ snap.
Even as recently as this year, when promoting Spider-Man: A Brand New Day, he let slip that “no one remembers that I’m Spider-Man apart from one” during an interview with IGN – although thankfully, Zendaya cut him off before he was able to do any more damage and give away the whole film’s plot.
Tom Holland’s unexpected way of winning over his future wife Zendaya
Tom had his The Notebook moment after attending a carpentry school in Cardiff.
When he hit a low in his acting career following 2015’s In The Heart Of The Sea, his mother enrolled him on the course so he could have a skill to fall back on if Hollywood didn’t work out.
“I went through a phase in my career where I was too old to play a child but too young to play a teenager,” he explained to Jimmy Kimmel during an appearance on his chat show.
“My mum’s side of the family are all carpenters, so my granddad taught me when I was young.”
This skill even helped him impress Zendaya in the early days of their relationship.
“I fixed my girlfriend’s door once really early on in our relationship,” Tom said in Unilad’s Get A Job! video series in 2023. “I was hanging out at her house and her door was broken. I was like, ‘I’m gonna fix that door for you’. And now, we’re in love!”
When he visited a children’s hospital in character
We don’t just love Tom because of his quirky online videos and childhood interviews – he also won us all over with his caring and charitable nature.
In 2016, when filming Spider-Man: Homecoming, he took time to visit a children’s hospital in Atlanta. The then-20-year-old hung out with young patients at Egleston Hospital dressed as Spider-Man.
Afterwards, he took to Instagram to share photos of the visit, writing: “Meeting you all today was such a wonderful experience and you’re all such little inspirations. We’re proud of you and we love and we hope to be back soon… and thank you for having us, Egleston Children’s hospital.”
He also runs The Brothers Trust, a charity founded by his parents in 2017. They leverage Tom’s star power and popularity to raise awareness for various global health, social and educational causes.
His ‘feud’ with fellow Marvel star Anthony Mackie
Tom and Anthony Mackie have shared a light-hearted rivalry since promoting Captain America: Civil War a decade ago.
It all started when Peter Parker easily took on Anthony’s character Falcon and Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier in the film. Tom would frequently joke about his 14-year-old character going toe-to-toe, and beating, older and more experienced superheroes.
Anthony (and, sometimes, Sebastian) would frequently joke back about the young star needing “juiceboxes” and “handlers” to look after him on-set.
During a Comic-Con interview in 2018, Anthony claimed he had never even seen Spider-Man: Homecoming, to which Tom joked: “I haven’t seen the Falcon one – oh no wait, there isn’t one! I’m sorry.”
Anthony has repeatedly insisted that the banter is all done in good faith, proving that Tom can take a joke and throw shade when he wants to.
“Tom Holland is my friend. That’s why I make fun of him. I love the kid. He’s a great, great kid. He’s the best Spider-Man we’ve had – but he’s an arrogant little shit. And I stress: little,” he quipped to Wired in 2019.
One word: ‘Quackson’
Another meme-worthy moment from the British actor came in 2017 when he tried to say the word croissant.
While discussing breaking his strict diet after filming In the Heart Of The Sea, Tom pronounced the French pastry as “quackson”, a moment his fans clung to and turned into a meme.
Ever since, Tom has brought up this mispronunciation multiple times, admitting his frustration because he believed he had said it correctly.
Zendaya even called him out for the mispronunciation, telling him “you do say it with a qua,” during a Wired autocomplete interview.
The time Zendaya had to catch him on set
“Short King” Tom and Zendaya joked during a 2021 appearance on The Graham Norton Show about how her taller stature helped her catch him when a Spider-Man: No Way Home stunt went wrong.
“Spider-Man swings us on top of a bridge and he places me there. … So he’s supposed to gently rest MJ on the bridge and walk away from her,” the Euphoria actor explained.
But according to Zendaya, the two were attached together for the stunt, and because of her height, she would land before him.
“So Zendaya would land. And I’m the superhero, I’m supposed to look cool. And I would land and my feet would swing from underneath me and then she would catch me,” he explained. The two then stood up to demonstrate how the landing played out during filming.
Tom is about two inches shorter than Zendaya, although with her love of So Kate stilettoes it can often look like more of a stark difference.
During press appearances, Tom and Zendaya have even dismissed the public focus on their height difference as “thinly veiled misogyny” and “ridiculous” stereotyping, including during one 2021 SiriusXM interview.
Tom Holland’s love of dogs makes our hearts melt
We love how much Tom Holland loves dogs, and fell head over heels with his blue Bull Terrier named Tess, who even accompanied him to the premiere of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Recently, he and Zendaya have also welcomed Noon, a Miniature Schnauzer and Daphne, a Doberman Pinscher, into their lives.
This affection for dogs is especially on show during BuzzFeed’s puppy interview series.
He loves his dogs so much that when he’s away from home, they are the things he misses the most.
Dominic Holland, Tom’s dad, noted on his personal Substack that after the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere, Zendaya and Tom couldn’t stop talking about their furry family members.
“The main topic of conversation was not Spider-Man…But their dogs; how much they had missed them and how keen they were to be reunited,” he recalled about the car ride home after the premiere.
The time Tom Holland (unsuccessfully!) slid into Erling Haaland’s DMs
Who of us hasn’t tried to slide into a celeb’s DMs at one point or another? Well, clearly Tom Holland is no different.
The Uncharted actor was left “humbled” when he sent Norwegian footballer, Erling Haaland a message, inviting him for dinner and got no response.
Tom saw the Manchester City forward in a hospitality suite at a Formula 1 race, and decided to slip him a message.
“[There was] not even a response, not an excuse, not ’I’m busy tonight, I’m playing football. Nada,” he told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show.
However, after The Tonight Show shared the clip, the footballer finally responded.
“Dinner invitation accepted @tomholland2013,” Haaland commented on the post. “A little late… Just name the place!”
Meanwhile, the sports star previously told his version of the story on the Norwegian version of The Assembly.
“This is a bit embarrassing, to be completely honest,” he said. “We were in Monaco at the Formula 1, and then I got a message. I don’t watch movies much, so I have no idea who people are.
“There was one asking if we could go out for dinner, but I’d never seen him, so I didn’t bother to answer. I didn’t want to answer an unknown person.”
When Tom Holland made history as the first star to throw up on Hot Ones
Many stars have claimed they got sick after appearing on Hot Ones with Sean Evans – but Tom Holland is the only one to actually do it on camera.
In a recent appearance with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey co-star Jon Bernthal, Tom threw up after eating the show’s signature fiery chicken wings.
Tom had struggled throughout the show with the spicy food, but after they finished eating the wings of death, he couldn’t take it any more.
Standing up after the challenge to pose for a photo with the host, the actor started coughing before bending over and throwing up.
The MCU star took it in his stride, immediately laughing the incident off.
When Sean noted that it might be the “first on set” vomit, Tom and Jon laughed once more.
“I love being the first,” he said.
Earlier in the interview, when Tom started to struggle, he told Sean he “could black out.” Grabbing a glass of milk, the actor added, “It’s amazing how the milk helps and then immediately it comes right back.”
Although less memorable than his recent visit to the set of Hot Ones, we also recommend watching his very first sit-down with Sean Evans. It’s a masterclass in being charming and self-deprecating, while also struggling with very spicy food.
Tom Holland is just as mesmerised by Zendaya as we all are
There are quite simply too many adorable and hilarious moments between Tom and his now-wife Zendaya that we couldn’t pick just one.
Audiences have followed the duo as they went from flirty co-stars to a married couple in their 30s, watching Zendaya giggle over Tom’s jokes and Tom gush over Zendaya on the red carpet.
At the premiere of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Tom even got distracted when he heard the crowd react to Zendaya’s arrival, and looked just as obsessed with The Drama actor as the rest of the world.
More recently, at the world premiere of The Odyssey, he also took a moment on the red carpet to admire his fashion-forward wife in her white structural dress.
The Umbrella moment that continues to break the internet a decade later
Of course, we had to end this list with the ultimate Tom Holland viral moment.
Back in 2017, Tom and Zendaya went on Lip Sync Battle to promote Spider-Man: Homecoming. At this point, people who weren’t as familiar with Tom thought he was just another young actor, without realising how much experience he already had as a dancer.
Zendaya had already performed to 24k Magic by Bruno Mars when Tom came out and gave one of the most iconic performances in recent years.
He started the performance in a suit, paying homage to Gene Kelly and dancing to Singin’ In The Rain, when the lights dropped, the rain machine kicked in and he ripped off his suit to reveal a leotard, wig and fishnets in an homage to Rihanna.
The rest is pop culture history.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the viral moment in 2023 he explained: “I’ve grown up in the most non-toxic-masculine environment possible. I didn’t realise what I was doing was so forward-thinking. I was just like, ‘Yeah, fuck it, I’ll put some fishnets on and dance in the rain. That’ll be really fun. I don’t care’.” He added that he’s still “proud” of the scene, and claimed during a more recent appearance on Good Hang with Amy Poehler, that he is still more recognised for this routine than “any piece of work I have ever done.”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is in cinemas now.
Wes Streeting has suffered an “unbelievable volume” of homophobic abuse since becoming defence secretary, he has revealed.
He said it was clear that many people online “cannot cope with the idea” of a gay man in the role.
Streeting was brought back into the cabinet by Andy Burnham after resigning as health secretary under Keir Starmer.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, he said his sexuality had been “almost entirely unremarked upon in the media” when he was put in charge of the Ministry of Defence.
But he said that “online it matters to a lot of people”.
Streeting said said the role was an opportunity for him to “challenge this sort of stereotype that clearly persists in dark corners of the internet”.
Despite the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, it remained a criminal offence for military personnel until 1994.
Even after that date, homosexuality remained classed as “conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline” until 2000, meaning service personnel could still be dismissed for being gay.
Streeting added: “I am proud of the fact that in my lifetime we’ve gone from gay people not being allowed to serve in the military to a gay defence secretary.
“And in my first week, someone in the MoD said to me, you know, as a gay man, I’m really proud that we have our first gay defence secretary, and it means a lot to many of us who remember the bad old days.”
Streeting also said Andy Burnham “probably” would not have become prime minister if he had not resigned as health secretary.
“What I think my resignation did that week was force choices for others,” he said.
Streeting also revealed that he had ditched his plan to challenge for the Labour leadership after talks with Burnham during the Makerfield by-election campaign.
He said: “I sort of went in with the aim of saying I think we can show a different way of doing politics in terms of how we debate the future of the Labour Party and how we conduct ourselves in a contest.
“And we sat around over a cup of tea, talking about what had gone wrong. And inevitably, when you talk about what’s gone wrong, you give hints to each other about what you think you need to do to make it right.
“And the more we were talking, the more I was thinking, how much do I fundamentally disagree with this guy on anything?”
Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.
If you’ve ever taken antibiotics, you might’ve noticed your digestive system took a bit of a hit.
On a very simple level, the medication targets bacteria in the body to kill off the bad stuff – unfortunately it can also get rid of the good stuff, too.
Research suggests antibiotic-associated diarrhoea can occur in 5-30% of people either during the early stages of them taking antibiotics, or up to two months after.
These loose stools are one of the “clearest signs” that antibiotics are impacting your gut health, according to Dr Megan Rossi, a gut health scientist at King’s College London and founder of Smart Strains.
“The extent to which antibiotics affect the gut depends on several factors,” she told HuffPost UK.
“Firstly, the type of antibiotic matters. Some antibiotics are narrow-spectrum, meaning they target specific bacteria, while others are broad-spectrum and affect a much wider range of bacteria, including many of the beneficial microbes that live in our gut.
“Dose is another important factor, and repeated or prolonged courses of antibiotics can also have a greater cumulative impact on the gut microbiome.”
Can you protect your gut health when you’re on antibiotics?
Dr Michael Passarella, a gastroenterologist at The University of Alabama Birmingham St. Vincent’s Hospital, suggested it’s “difficult to truly ‘protect’ the microbiome” while taking antibiotics.
That said, certain probiotics, “especially Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Saccharomyces boulardii, have shown to reduce the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea,” Dr Passarella previously said. “They are safe to use, but the long-term benefits are uncertain.”
Dr Rossi points to recommendations from the The World Gastroenterology Organisation that people on antibiotics should take 10 billion CFU of the specific bacterial strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG), twice daily, alongside antibiotic treatment to help reduce the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea.
“This is the exact formulation used in Smart Strains [Dr Rossi’s own brand] for When You’re on Antibiotics,“ she added.
“The formulation has been shown to reduce antibiotic-associated diarrhoea by around 70% compared with placebo in both adults and children in randomised controlled trials.”
Probiotics might also help, but Dr Rossi notes that not all probiotics are the same. “Each different type of bacteria, known scientifically as a strain, has different effects, so the evidence for one strain cannot be applied to another,” she explained.
“Just as I wouldn’t recommend an iron supplement to treat a vitamin D deficiency, I wouldn’t recommend a generic probiotic when the evidence supports a specific strain.”
If your probiotic contains the LGG strain, that is a good sign. Dr Rossi notes the World Gastroenterology Organisation recommends taking this type of strain during your antibiotic course, rather than waiting until it’s finished.
“The recommended dose is 10 billion CFU twice daily, ideally taken a couple of hours away from the antibiotic dose. I also recommend continuing it for at least one week after finishing the antibiotic course to help support recovery of the gut microbiome,” she added.
Dr Passarella also suggested that you don’t need to go for the expensive brands as “some of the commonly found over-the-counter options are just as effective”.
“A high CFU count isn’t necessarily better. The specific strain matters more than the number of bacteria,” he added.
Diet is also a big consideration during this time. Dr Passarella noted “fibre basically acts as a prebiotic”.
“If probiotics are the good bacteria, prebiotics are the food they need to thrive,” he explained, adding that it’s important to eat fruit, vegetables and other fibre-rich foods while taking antibiotics.
Some healthcare providers recommend eating more yoghurt with live cultures while taking antibiotics (providing you’re not sensitive to it).
Yoghurt contains Lactobacillus acidophilus, according to Dr Ravinder Machra, of West Tennessee Medical Group Primary Care. This can help “reup your bacterial balance while you’re taking an antibiotic”, she said.
Fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut may also help.
Thanks to House Of The Dragon and House Of Guinness, James Norton is becoming an international hot property.
However, the Bafta nominee has already been a regular on British screens for nearly 15 years, since rising to fame as the lovable vicar Sidney Chambers in the ITV detective drama Grantchester and the villainous Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley.
Since his on-screen debut in the 2010s, James has gone on to appear in a wide array of projects on both the big and small screens – though, admittedly, not all of them have stood the test of time.
As his star continues to rise, here are 13 James Norton roles you may have forgotten about…
Death Comes To Pemberley (2013)
One of James’ earliest notable appearances came when he was cast as Mr Henry Alveston in Death Comes To Pemberley.
The BBC murder mystery drama was an adaptation of the P. D. James novel of the same name, starring Matthew Rhys, Anna Maxwell Martin and Jenna Coleman as characters in the same universe as Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice.
Taking place six years after Mr Darcy’s wedding to Elizabeth Bennet, the show followed the investigation into the murder of Captain Martin Denny on the grounds of Pemberley house.
James’ character, Dr Henry, was a lawyer and legal reformer who was involved in the court case, and also served as a love interest to Georgiana, Mr Darcy’s sister.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover (2015)
James played Sir Clifford Chatterley in one of the many adaptations of DH Lawrence’s scandalous 1928 novel.
This TV movie version starred Holliday Grainger as Lady Chatterley and Richard Madden as Oliver Mellors.
In Lady Chatterley’s Lover, James played the war veteran husband of the titular character, who is paralysed from the waist down after returning from World War I.
Written and directed by Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio, the BBC adaptation also featured Jodie Comer and Edward Holcroft.
War & Peace (2016)
The BBC miniseries War & Peace is now renowned for its star-studded cast, many of whom went on to become huge names in Hollywood – James included.
The Leo Tolstoy adaptation starred future household names including Jessie Buckley, Lily James, Jack Lowden and Callum Turner, alongside more established actors Paul Dano, Brian Cox and Stephen Rea.
War & Peace followed five aristocratic Russian families as they navigated society, love and the French invasion of Russia under Napoleon between 1805 and 1820.
In the six-part drama, James played the nihilistic Andrei Bolkonsky, the son of the strict retired general Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky and the brother of Princess Marya.
Andrei spends much of the show frustrated with the superficiality of his high society life, trying to find a higher purpose.
Black Mirror (2016)
That same year, James also appeared in the first instalment of Black Mirror’s third season (and its first as a big-budget Netflix original), entitled Nosedive.
Bryce Dallas Howard took the lead in the episode, which took place in a not-too-distant dystopian future, where people rated each other after each interaction via a smartphone app.
James played Ryan, the laid-back, videogame-obsessed brother of Bryce’s Lacie. Unlike his sister, Ryan was nonplussed about society’s opinions of him, rejecting the superficiality and spending most of the episode hiding behind a VR set, while Lacie desperately sought the affirmation of those around her.
The episode is still one of Black Mirror’s highest rated and best remembered offerings ever, with The AV Club commending the episode for painting “a darker picture, of a world in which the instant gratification of online approval has spread outward”.
Flatliners (2017)
Michael Gibson/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock
You’d be forgiven for forgetting they ever remade Flatliners, let alone that it featured James Norton.
Meanwhile, the 2017 reboot starred Elliot Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev and Kiersey Clemons alongside James as medical students who try to conduct experiments that create near-death experiences.
The remake, which also acted as a sequel, was slammed by critics and now holds a measly 4% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Hampstead (2017)
Around the release of the ill-fated Flatliners, James also played a supporting role in Hampstead, alongside Brendan Gleeson and the late Diane Keaton.
The romantic comedy-drama was based on the real-life story of Harry Hallowes, who lived on a camp on Hampstead Heath, and successfully battled property developers, successfully claiming adverse possession when they tried to evict him.
Brendan played Donald, who served as a fictionalised version of the late Hallowes, with Diane starring as an American widow whom he befriends after she tries to help him.
James appeared as her well-meaning son, who was worried about the financial and personal burden Donald was putting on his mother.
Although made in 2017, the film’s release was delayed until 2019, reportedly due the allegations made against Harvey Weinstein, who had acquired the US distribution rights to the film around that time.
The movie was met with mixed reviews with Variety calling the unlikely rom-com “gentle, attractively appointed and phonier-than-thou Britcom in the Richard Curtis mould”.
McMafia (2018)
BBC audiences were absolutely hooked on the crime drama McMafia when it premiered in 2018.
In the gripping series, James played Alex Godman, a young financier who became embroiled in a life of crime, rubbing shoulders with the Russian mafia and the Mexican cartel.
Inspired by a non-fiction book by journalist Misha Glenny, the series also starred David Strathairn and Juliet Rylance.
“This isn’t just a story of the sexy side of the mafia which people are attracted to, but also the cost of that lavish lifestyle, how it’s paid and who pays for it,” James teased to iNews in 2017.
The Trial Of Christine Keeler (2019)
Another big-budget BBC drama James Norton appeared in was The Trial Of Christine Keeler. Airing at the end of 2019 and start of 2020, the miniseries followed the real-life events of the 1963 Profumo Affair.
Sophie Skelton played Christine Keeler, the model who became involved in a national scandal when she had an affair with two married men. The 21-year-old was entangled with both a Soviet Union attache and the UK Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, during the Cold War,
James played Stephen Ward, a well-connected osteopath and artist who was dragged into the scandal when he introduced Profumo to the then 19-year-old Christine Keeler. He was also friends with the Soviet attaché and was later involved in the cover-up.
Little Women (2019)
At the time, James’ most high-profile job to date came when he appeared in 2019’s Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig.
The British star appeared alongside an illustrious cast including Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet and Florence Pugh, playing the hardworking tutor John Brooke.
In the film, his character married Emma Watson’s Meg March, with whom he has two children.
“I was very aware of the calibre of people on that set. I spent most of my time standing in the corner just trying to soak as much of it as I possibly could,” he told Variety at the Cannes Film Festival, calling working with the star-studded cast a “total privilege”.
Nowhere Special (2020)
One of James’ most critically-acclaimed projects is the 2020 indie film Nowhere Special, in which he played a single father with a terminal illness.
James starred as John, a man who must make arrangements for his four-year-old son after learning he has terminal cancer, while also shielding the young boy from his inevitable death.
In 2021, the actor was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in the drama. Nowhere Special holds a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Guardian praising James’ “spine-tingling, intimate performance”, and the BFI calling him “grounded and genuine” in the role.
The Nevers (2021)
Set in Victorian London, the series followed a group of people who acquired abnormal abilities after a mysterious supernatural event.
In the steampunk series, James played Hugo Swann, an aristocratic pansexual man who owns a private club and is known for extorting customers.
In 2021, James called his character an “absolute joy to play”, telling Radio Times: “I love being able to let rip, and tap into that dark, wonderful, bawdy side of humanity. We’re all desperate to be Hugo Swann, but we’re all too repressed to actually give it a go.”
Bob Marley: One Love (2022)
Kingsley Ben-Adir won acclaim and critical nods for his leading performance role as Bob Marley in the 2022 biopic, One Love.
The biopic followed the reggae legend’s career from his mid 70s success through to his untimely death in 1981.
In the film, James played the record producer and founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, who represented artists like Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh, and is credited with helping bring reggae music to the wider world.
James researched the mogul extensively and consulted with art director Neville Garrick to capture the producer’s personal dynamic with the late reggae singer.
He told Screen Rant about the importance of Neville and Bob’s son Ziggy Marley’s involvement with the project.
“Having those guys there, both in terms of just the references and the historical advice was brilliant, but it was a bigger, more profound presence,” he enthused.
Playing Nice (2025)
Just last year, James both starred in and executive produced the four-part ITV drama Playing Nice, kicking off a run of prolific projects that included King & Conqueror for the BBC and House Of Guinness for Netflix.
In the show, James and Niamh Algar played a husband and wife, who discovered that their child had been swapped with another couple’s in the same hospital when they were newborns babies.
The series followed the couple as they tried to “play nice” and co-parent their biological child, while still raising the toddler they believed to be their own.
However, tensions quickly rose when legal threats were made by the other set of parents.
The show was one of ITV1’s highest-rated new dramas of 2025, breaking ITVX records with its viewing figures.
Digital Spy hailed Playing Nice as “the kind of show that will plague your mind in an infuriating, all-consuming, perfectly addictive way, although it did face some criticism due its storyline.
James hit back at the critics at the time, insisting: “Family, either your parents or your children, they are the thing which you have that 4am anxiety about,” he said.
“So this… I mean, look, I don’t want to push back [but] the people who are finding it too much – it’s drama!”
House Of The Dragon’s third season concludes on Monday on HBO Max, Sky and Now in the UK.
Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, is facing mounting pressure amid growing scrutiny of his leadership. This comes after The Telegraph published a report detailing new allegations concerning his tenure at the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
According to the report, the events took place when Infantino served as UEFA General Secretary, prior to his election as FIFA president in 2016. Allegations center on the promotion and salary increase of a female staff member, which reportedly raised concerns within the organization.
Promotion and salary hike
The Telegraph reports that the employee, who held an administrative role, received a promotion that included a salary increase of approximately 30 percent, bringing her annual earnings to nearly 170,000 euros.
The newspaper noted that this decision caused friction and raised questions among some UEFA staff at the time, specifically regarding the influence Infantino reportedly exerted during the promotion process and the negotiation of her financial terms.
Infantino’s confrontation with Platini
According to the account provided by The Telegraph, the matter escalated within UEFA and eventually reached the then-president, Michel Platini, who intervened to address the situation.
Sources cited by the newspaper claim the situation led to a direct confrontation between Platini and Infantino, stemming from their disagreement over how the employee’s case and her promotion were handled.
Resurfacing allegations
The report suggests the matter extended beyond the employee’s time at UEFA. The Telegraph alleges that Infantino later assisted the same individual in securing a new position at another sports organisation, reportedly leveraging his professional network within football.
These claims arrive as Infantino faces increasing criticism regarding his management of FIFA, most notably the recent controversy surrounding his commercial plans to sell a stake in World Cup rights — a proposal that has drawn strong objections from both within and outside UEFA.
The Telegraph emphasises that its report details allegations and events from several years ago, noting the importance of distinguishing between these claims and facts that have been officially or judicially proven.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has received the heartbreaking news that his father and agent, Jorge Messi, has passed away at the age of 68 following a long battle with illness. Jorge’s name has been inextricably linked to the most significant milestones in the life and career of the Argentine captain.
According to Argentine media reports, Jorge passed away around 10 p.m. Friday at a medical facility in Rosario, his son’s hometown, following a recent decline in his health.
Jorge Messi: A constant presence
Jorge Messi was far more than just a father; he was a central figure throughout his son’s career, managing his professional and commercial affairs as Lionel rose to become one of the most celebrated figures in football history.
He was a constant presence from Lionel’s early childhood, notably advocating for the special treatment required for his son’s growth hormone deficiency and supporting the family’s pivotal move to Spain, where Lionel’s ascent with FC Barcelona began.
From Rosario to the top
Jorge was instrumental during their move from Argentina to Europe, providing critical support as Lionel navigated the challenges of entering professional football at such a young age.
Over the years, Jorge took on the responsibility of managing his son’s professional affairs—a role he assumed when Lionel was only fourteen — nurturing a close partnership that spanned decades. He remained present throughout the most important moments of Messi’s career, from his early years at Barcelona and his brilliance with the Catalan club to his tenure with the Argentine national team and his current experience with Inter Miami.
A life of devotion
Jorge’s passing follows a period of declining health that was closely monitored by medical professionals.
Messi had previously appeared visibly distressed at public events, alluding to the difficult days he was enduring and confirming that his struggles stemmed from private family matters rather than football. With Jorge’s passing, Lionel loses one of the most influential figures in his life—a father who stood by his side from the early days in Rosario to the pinnacle of world football, maintaining a bond that was both deeply personal and professionally profound.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
It’s widely believed that Kenneth Tynan was the first person ever to say ‘fuck’ on British television, in 1965. But, wouldn’t you know, Miriam Margolyes had a go first, in a 1963 episode of University Challenge. Sadly for her, the word was bleeped out and she’s been trying to make up for it ever since. A fellow thespian recalled that she once gave her excuse for being late to rehearsal as having been delayed while ‘wanking off’ a park keeper. I looked up her Desert Island Discs, and was absolutely amazed to find out that she hadn’t chosen the old Flanders and Swann number that goes: ‘Ma’s out, Pa’s out, Let’s talk rude! / Pee Po Belly Bum Drawers / Let’s write rude words all down our street / Stick out our tongues at the people we meet / Let’s have an intellectual treat / Pee Po Belly Bum Drawers.’
Being a ‘potty-mouth’ is one of the things Margolyes is famous for. Indeed, it’s one of the things that makes her a ‘National Treasure’. (Ick, ick, and thrice ick!) I see that I wrote in the Spectator a while back: ‘Though they can be anything from actors to zoologists, they will have one loathsome character trait in common; they were all massively ambitious when young, but they like to pretend that their success was somehow organic and that only other – shallow, grasping – people are driven by attention-seeking and greedy for money.’
As if she wasn’t filthy rich enough (she owns three houses – four until recently, so downsizing), Margolyes is to embark on a national tour in September, warning us with a nice bit of pre-merching that ‘This old dyke can only go on so long’, as she’s 85. I thought of Alan Bennett saying, ‘If you live to be 90 in England and can still eat a boiled egg, they think you deserve the Nobel Prize’. If you can still say ‘fuck’ at 60, they apparently give you the OBE.
Like much about her, the fact that Margolyes took the Order of the British Empire is a fascinating contradiction if one is being kind, an act of rank hypocrisy if not. The first political party she joined was the Workers Revolutionary Party, led by Gerry Healy, a prolific bully and rapist. In the 1970s, it was a kind of finishing school for very daft actors. It’s fair to say that her politics, like her vocabulary, never really matured. She was all over Corbyn. She signed a 2015 letter criticising the Jewish Chronicle for reporting her pin-up’s alleged associations with various anti-Semitic charmers. In 2019, endorsing his Labour leadership, she added her autograph to yet another billet doux to the saturnine scowler, and described him as a ‘beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world’. In 2020, she told The Times that he had been forced to resign from the leadership ‘by a conspiracy within the party motivated from Israel’.
The Gaza conflict has been a field day for her, where she can indulge her demonising of Jews who think differently to her as blatantly as she pleases. She is a signatory to Jews for Justice for Palestinians. In a short video posted to social media, she said:
‘I have never been so ashamed of Israel as I am at this moment. To me, it seems as if Hitler has won. He’s changed us Jews from being compassionate and caring and do unto others as you would have them do unto you into this vicious genocidal nationalist nation.’
Understandably, the Campaign Against Antisemitism has called her views on Israel ‘repugnant’ – there is something uniquely vile about a Jew comparing other Jews to Hitler for the slobbering delectation of left-wing Pally-flag-shaggers.
Her big thing is making everything – from her suicidal empathy to her swearing – ‘cuddly’ and because she has clung stubbornly to her bulk, she’s got away with it. She’s a tranny fan, too, giving her the hat-trick of trans, Palestine and potty-mouth in common with Dawn French. But French has somehow managed to foul her own nest, with even former fans aghast at last year’s ‘bad fing’ Gaza video. Is it because Miriam’s a lesbian? Or because she’s registered as disabled, with spinal stenosis, which means she needs mobility aids, as well as osteoarthritis? Perhaps there is a feeling that to openly admit dislike of her would be to ‘hate on’ too many minorities at once.
That she is plain has also worked to her advantage. No one can point at her and say, ‘Well, she only got hired because everyone fancied her!’. It’s fair to say that her voice, rather than her face, has been her fortune. She started out in the 1970s reading an ‘erotic’ audiobook called Sexy Sonia: Leaves From My Schoolgirl Notebook and later made many a young man worry that he might be a pervert for fancying a cartoon animal when she voiced the Cadbury’s Caramel Bunny in the 1990s. She has worked non-stop in a profession where female beauty is almost compulsory – and she has gained more work the older she becomes, even in films, which are unkind to the aging female. Her first major film role might have been the ignominious-sounding Elephant Ethel in 1977’s Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers, but by 1989 she was winning the LA Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress in Little Dorrit. Dickens was to come in handy, from the one-woman show Dickens’ Women, in which she played 23 characters, to the 10-part BBC documentary, Dickens in America.
Her credits make the head spin. Blackadder, Babe, Muriel Spark’s Girls of Slender Means, Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, all the female characters in Monkey and for the Gay Sweatshop theatre company. When did she find time to eat? But somehow she has, being refreshingly open about her own greed, to the point that she partially blames her bad health on her love of desserts. (These days it would be ADHD, as Caitlin Moran recently claimed about her love of booze.) She told the How To Fail podcast:
‘I’ve limited my life because of my longing for fudge or cheesecake… It is a major failure, and because of that, I’ve got spinal stenosis. I can’t walk. I’m going to be in a wheelchair before I’m much older… It’s just greed, lack of discipline, all the things that I’m embarrassed by in myself.’
Again refreshingly, she admits to being ‘greedy for money’ and makes an ‘enormous amount’ of it. She turned down a Marvel role after demanding a million pounds and they ‘only’ offered her half. Though she appears to ‘identify’ as a socialist and has said that she often feels that rich people ‘shouldn’t have what they have’ and that ‘I don’t feel easy with rich people’, how can she square this with sitting on more than £4million, half a mil of which came from recording Cameo fan messages?
But just when you think she can’t be any more of a hypocritical bore, she has to go and spoil it all by saying something smart. Though I love JK Rowling, and can’t get enough of her Strike novels, I do find adults who read Harry Potter amusing. In 2024, Margolyes, who played Professor Sprout, offended quite a few of them by saying: ‘I worry about Harry Potter fans because they should be over that by now… it’s for children.’ A Guardian Q&A in 2016 revealed her to be eye-poppingly honest and original:
‘JK Rowling is a fabulous woman. And I just love the fact that the richest woman in Britain is a writer – what a brilliant state of affairs… I can’t bear children. I support children’s charities, I just don’t want them around me… Marriage is for straight people. I’ve been with my partner for 48 years – although she lives in Holland and I live in England. We’ve had a civil partnership, but the thought of referring to one another as “wife” makes me feel sick.’
Reluctantly, having started out in full-on flamethrower mode, I came to the conclusion that there’s much to admire about Margolyes. It’s like the honest side of her keeps trying to duke it out with the socialist side of her. Perhaps (like me) she simply talks too much. Queen Elizabeth II had the right idea at that reception for British Book Week, perhaps. Asked what she did, MM replied that she was ‘the best reader of stories in the whole world’ – but when Her Maj moved on to speak to a man who worked with dyslexic children, Margolyes kept butting in, to which the queen merely said: ‘Be quiet.’
Still, in a world where being left-wing requires one to never keep one’s politics sensibly à la carte (to quote Lionel Shriver), I can’t help wishing that this old dyke goes on for a good while longer yet.
Julie Burchill is a spiked columnist. Follow her Substack, ‘Notes from the Naughty Step’, here.
Public confidence in policing seems to be dwindling by the day. London’s Metropolitan Police, in particular, is looking less like a guardian of law and order than a bloated bureaucracy itching to police the boundaries of ‘respectable’ opinion.
The latest blow to public trust arrives on the back of the Jason Arday affair. In 2025, Jack Grove, a journalist at Times Higher Education, was investigating allegations that the then Cambridge professor had plagiarised parts of his PhD, and contacted him to offer him the right of reply. In other words, a journalist in the higher-education sector was checking details and putting difficult questions to a prominent academic. In a sane democracy, that isn’t suspicious conduct – it is the job description of a journalist.
Yet soon afterwards, the Met opened an investigation into Grove on suspicion of ‘harassing’ the academic. Grove says officers also instructed him to make no further contact with Arday because his enquiries had affected the professor’s ‘mental health’.
During my two decades in policing, asking an individual to leave someone alone because they were getting upset was never part of any training package. But the Arday story gets worse. After four months, detectives concluded there was no case to answer. They contacted Grove in order to notify him that he was no longer under investigation, only to find out that nobody had initially informed him that he was under investigation – so they couldn’t even do that properly.
Such absurdity and ineptitude would be comic were they not so concerning. One might have thought that the police had enough to occupy their time without treating legitimate reporting as a case for detectives. But this is what institutional activism within the police looks like. Burglary and robbery are shrugged at, disorder tolerated, and yet a reporter asking awkward questions is apparently enough to trigger the machinery of the state. The message is brutally simple – offend the wrong sensibilities, trespass on the wrong protected terrain and the police will come knocking.
Incidents like this are no longer aberrations. This is merely the latest in a long list of occasions where the police have intervened in areas of life that shouldn’t concern them. Their priorities are all over the place. High-ranking officers are fluent in every fashionable orthodoxy, but they become strangely tongue-tied when we ask why burglaries go unsolved, anti-social behaviour is indulged and the streets feel unsafe.
This matters because British policing rests on consent. Yes, the notion of consent is nebulous, but it is the only reason the police possess any moral authority. The public accepts police power because it believes that power will be used impartially, proportionately and in defence of common liberties. Once people conclude that policing has become culturally captured or openly hostile to mainstream opinion, that authority will leak away.
The growing public distrust of the police hasn’t emerged from nowhere. For many Britons who have long been instinctively pro-police, recent controversies have made that loyalty harder to maintain. They look at the wholly avoidable tragedy of Henry Nowak, the enthusiasm for recording ‘Non-Crime Hate Incidents’ and the embrace of fashionable ideological causes, and they understandably ask the obvious question: whose side are the police on?
The investigation into Grove deepens that distrust because it strikes at a liberty that should be non-negotiable. A free press isn’t only free when its questions are soft, soothing or pre-approved by the intelligentsia. Journalism involves pressure, persistence and asking questions the powerful and the thin-skinned would rather dodge. That isn’t harassment; it is democracy in action.
Just because the investigation into Grove’s actions didn’t lead anywhere, the police still caused damage by launching it. It acted as a warning to every other reporter tempted to dig where ‘polite’ society would rather they didn’t – in this case, into Jason Arday’s academic work. That is why the Met’s conduct cannot be brushed aside as a harmless mistake.
Met commissioner Mark Rowley has admitted, yet again, that his officers made an error. He said that any potential investigation into Grove should have been screened out as not requiring police action. But the very fact that it wasn’t is an indictment of modern policing. The employee who first looked into this should have realised immediately that it wasn’t worthy of police action. But instead, the officer either genuinely thought this constituted an offence, or that failing to act upon it would have caused him or her to be dragged before a misconduct board. Either way, it is symptomatic of the ideological capture of what should be an impartial institution.
Scotland Yard is losing its way. It has become a danger to the very liberties it is supposed to protect. If a police force adopts an activist posture – treating the taking of offence, distress, reputational embarrassment or ideological sensitivity as matters for law enforcement – it becomes inevitable the public will turn.
The Met might imagine this episode is over because Grove is no longer being investigated and Arday has resigned. It is not. The real case now is against the culture and leadership of an institution that, wilfully or otherwise, mistook journalistic scrutiny for wrongdoing. On that charge, they are guilty.
Paul Birch is a former police officer and counter-terrorism specialist. You can read his Substack here.
The UK Charity Commission has launched a major inquiry into eight British charities that have sent donations to illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank.
The commission will examine whether the charities are using the funds for “legitimate charitable purposes” after receiving “serious allegations” about multiple charities.
The specific charities have not been named. However, this announcement comes after a Declassified UK investigation, which revealed how Israeli group Shivat Zion offered to help British citizens move to “awesome” illegal settlements.
According to Declassified:
Shivat Zion told supporters it could benefit from UK Gift Aid, by directing donations via a separate charity called UK Toremet Ltd, based near London.
In one email, a representative from Shivat Zion said that donations go through a British charity — UK Toremet. They justified this by explaining that it ensures the donations “properly reach Shivat Zion”.
But of course, applying Gift Aid means the British government adds on 25% to charitable donations. Essentially, the British taxpayer is funding illegal Israeli settlements.
Representatives from Shivat Zion were also caught on camera offering to help British citizens move to an illegal settlement in the West Bank. The group’s “encouragement” officer also bragged about “awesome settlements” and told supporters they could benefit from UK tax subsidies.
The original Declassified investigation led to several British MPs calling on the government to sanction Shivat Zion and take action against UK Toremet.
‘Serious allegations’
Since 2016, the Charity Commission has investigated three separate “regulatory compliance cases” about UK Toremet’s work in Palestine.
Additionally, the charity’s trustees were also given statutory guidance and an action plan. This warned it must comply with the Geneva Conventions Act 1957.
Charities have to be able to prove that they are delivering on their charitable aims — no matter what they do and where in the world they operate.
In 2024, a landmark advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) placed countries:
under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Whilst this advisory is not legally binding, it carries significant political weight.
Of course, the UK government refused to comment on Declassified’s findings.
Settler violence
From expelling an entire Palestinian village, to murdering a farmer, harassing Palestinian shepherds, and stopping children from playing football, there is a clear, conscious effort among Israeli settlers to cause physical, emotional, and mental suffering to Palestinians.
Since Israel launched its genocide on Gaza, illegal settlers — with the help of Israeli forces — have murdered more than 1,000 people in the West Bank.
Even the European Union (EU) has agreed to impose sanctions on illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
But we have to remember, occupation and stealing Palestinian land are a core part of Israeli government policy.
In December 2022, in a post on X, Benjamin Netanyahu stated:
These are the basic lines of the national government under my leadership:
The Jewish people has an exclusive and indisputable right to all spaces of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel—in the Galilee, in the Negev, in the Golan, in Judea and Samaria.
There are currently more than 737,000 illegal Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They have the full backing of the state — both ideologically and materially. They are armed by the government and protected by the IOF and the Israeli police.
As the Canary previously reported:
These settlers’ only aim is to force Palestinians off their land, so their colonial settlements can be built there instead, and they do this by storming villages and terrorising residents, burning homes, killing livestock, and destroying crops and trees.
Israeli settlements expansion
Currently, Israel is perpetrating its biggest expansion of Jewish settlements in decades across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Settlements are illegal under international law.
Article 49 of the Geneva Convention states:
The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.
Additionally, the Hague Regulations (1907) prohibit the seizure and destruction of private property. This means that both the building and the expansion of settlements breach international humanitarian law.
The systematic attempts to expel Palestinians from their native land are colonialism with a ‘do not touch, antisemitic’ label plastered to them.
Even the former head of Mossad has compared settler violence to the Holocaust, saying that: “What I saw today made me feel ashamed to be Jewish” — who are we to argue with such a man?
Now the Charity Commission is finally investigating, but it’s well overdue. Israel is a genocidal, terrorist state — and the settler movement is a prime example of the Zionist supremacist mindset going unchecked by the international community for far too long.
Feature image via TRT World/YouTube
By HG
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee has a month to turn around primary challenger Helena Foulkes’ 20-point lead or become the first sitting U.S. governor to lose a primary in eight years.
The race represents another crest in the world’s post-pandemic anti-incumbent wave, which has transcended ideological lines as voters express broad frustration with high costs of living and governments they don’t feel are working for them. It’s a throughline from insurgent progressive victories to Kamala Harris’ 2024 loss to President Donald Trump’s growing unpopularity.
And it’s all down to a bridge.Signs outside Rhode Island’s partially closed Washington Bridge tell drivers: “Thank you for your patience.”
But voters who’ve lived through the resulting traffic crisis since emergency safety concerns emerged in 2023 keep telling Foulkes the messages make them feel the opposite. Despite some improvement, they’re fed up with commuting and economic troubles stemming from the bridge’s slowdown. One older woman told Foulkes she wanted to take out her BB gun and shoot the signs.
The contest is a rematch of the 2022 primary, when McKee (who’d been elevated to governor when Gina Raimondo became Commerce secretary) narrowly edged out Foulkes in a multi-candidate race. The primary doesn’t fall neatly along the ideological lines that have riven Democrats elsewhere. Foulkes and McKee, both baby boomers, have positioned themselves as relatively mainstream, center-left Dems.
“I’m running against people’s belief that the status quo is maybe just as good as we’re ever going to be,” Foulkes told Playbook. She’s proposed funding 20,000 new housing units with a millionaires tax. “It’s so important that people feel a sense of momentum and energy … because I think oftentimes government doesn’t feel urgent to people, and their lives are really hurting.”
Rhode Island is small enough — an hour’s drive from one corner to the other — that a single bridge symbolizes the trend. (The Washington Bridge is a key conduit between Providence and East Providence.) Almost everybody says the bridge is the No. 1 issue in the race and voters’ perception of McKee’s tenure. He and Foulkes have squabbled over the pace of rebuilding, the bidding process and the state Department of Transportation leadership. Residents are also struggling with some of the country’s highest electric rates and worst housing affordability metrics.
But McKee is mounting a vigorous defense of his time in office, saying he’s delivered for Rhode Islanders — despite Trump’s obstacles — on jobs, SNAP, wind energy, education, hospitals, housing and energy. The governor argues he’s prioritized safety on the bridge after previous leaders kicked the can down the road. One recent poll by McKee allies found a closer race, with Foulkes ahead by just 6 points.
“My record is going to really be the important factor,” McKee said in an interview. “My opponent’s record’s been in the corporate boardroom, really putting profits over people.”
That’s the heart of McKee’s message, which banks on another crucial Democratic 2026 narrative carrying the day: a working people’s populism taking on the elite business class. McKee has long had a base of union support. In Foulkes, he has an opponent who’s no democratic socialist. She was a longtime CVS executive and comes from a storied political lineage (her grandfather and uncle, Thomas and Chris Dodd, were both senators).
“It’s kind of a running bit here that her campaign is, in a very real way, being run from the deck of the Dunes Club in Narragansett,” said McKee campaign manager Drew Shannon, referring to the exclusive, members-only beach club.
And McKee has gone negative on the airwaves, accusing Foulkes of cutting people’s health care and turning a blind eye to opioid addiction during her time at CVS. “She’s a denier: someone who denies the progress we’re making,” McKee told Playbook. “Just like she denies the role she played in fueling an opioid crisis.” Both candidates got fiery in a radio debate this week. As of July 31, Foulkes had five times McKee’s cash on hand.
McKee has been rolling out a string of notable endorsements, many from labor, including teachers, firefighters, building trades and Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island PAC. If he can pull off a comeback, it’ll likely be on the strength of union support.
But his positioning as a labor champion from the working-class Blackstone Valley — the birthplace of the U.S.’ Industrial Revolution — has been partially undercut by high-profile defections in his base. The Rhode Island SEIU State Council backed Foulkes. The state Democratic Party and the state AFL-CIO voted not to endorse in the race, both of which were seen as big blows to McKee.
“The labor movement is going to be in both camps,” AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley said.
And a number of Democratic city committees have sprung for Foulkes. Cumberland Mayor Jeff Cutter, who serves in the role McKee once held, is among those now supporting her. “There’s been some stances taken that I don’t think represent the same person who was a mentor of mine,” Cutter said of McKee, calling his endorsement a difficult personal choice.
“It’s one of those times,” Cutter added, “where the advantage of incumbency might not be an advantage at this point because there’s just so much kind of frustration.”
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Campaigners have called on north of Ireland infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins to ensure Belfast stays a walkable city. The demand comes after pedestrianisation of the city centre has proved a huge success during a major festival.
The north’s largest city is currently hosting the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann for the first time. The event is the world’s largest celebration of Irish music and culture. It is likely that over one million people will visit Belfast throughout the Fleadh, and they have been able to enjoy the festival’s cultural hub unimpeded thanks to the removal of traffic.
As part of a petition addressed to Kimmins, campaigners Act Now said:
With no cars and more public space, it has created a safe and lively environment for all of us to soak up all the music and craic this week. What the Fleadh has proved is that pedestrianisation can work in Belfast City Centre and other places across the North.
However, this is only temporary. When the Fleadh ends on Sunday, so will the temporary pedestrianisation of our streets. But that hasn’t stopped thousands of us asking the same question to friends and family: what if Belfast’s streets were like this all the time?
We call on Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins to pedestrianise more streets in Belfast and other places across the North.
Benefits of walkable cities: cleaner air and more active people
Reducing traffic in cities is hugely popular among Europeans. As City Changers point out:
…a 2020 YouGov survey across 21 European cities, 74% of responses – including drivers – supported the reallocation of space from vehicles to people-centric transport.
Cities jammed with traffic waste people’s time. Belfast is a prime example, as the most congested city across Britain and the north of Ireland. People breathe in toxic fumes as a result. City Changers say:
Emission levels are unsafe for breathing in at least 80% of cities and around 15% of all greenhouse gases are attributed to transport.
Using cars to get everywhere means people are less active by walking or cycling. The result of these factors is a poisoned, sedentary population suffering ill health. This in turn leads to increased costs for health care systems. More walkable areas, served by nearby public transport stops, would address these issues.
The Australian City Renewal Authority, which seeks to improve Canberra’s urban environment, point out that areas formerly filled with traffic can be replaced with trees. This results in more pleasant city spaces, cooler temperatures and cleaner air.
A report from Living Streets showed that there’d even be an economic boost from making cities more walkable. They say:
…pedestrians spend more money than people arriving by car, and pedestrianised town centres have higher sales.
Britain’s National Active Travel Commissioner is Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman. He elaborated, saying:
Making the centres of our towns, cities and villages easier and safer to get about on foot means people are more likely to spend more time there supporting local shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants.
Belfast Greens: “Pedestrianise the living daylights out of the city centre”
Local politicians approve of the Fleadh’s initiative with Green Party councillor Brian Smyth saying:
Pedestrianise the living daylights out of the city centre.
He acknowledged there could be:
…challenges around transport and those with mobility issues but I believe with consultation and the will we could find a way around this.
This is an issue sometimes raised by opponents of reducing car presence in cities, but Mother Jones point out that:
…disabled people are actually less likely to drive than non-disabled people….
That means they rely more on public transport. Mother Jones also point out that navigating a torrent of traffic is a greater hazard for disabled people, with:
…vehicle-pedestrian deaths among wheelchair users was 36 percent higher than that of the overall population.
For disabled people who do rely on a car, access could be granted for blue badge holders.
Even the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) resisted their reflexive tendency to scream ‘no’ at anything remotely positive. Belfast councillor Sarah Bunting acknowledged that the pedestrianised spaces are:
…creating a welcoming atmosphere and allowing people to enjoy the city in a different way.
However, similarly to Smyth, she caveated her remarks by emphasising the need to plan properly for the needs of “elderly people and those with mobility issues”.
Those with mobility issues might include revellers who are the worse for wear after contributing to the possible 2.5 million pints of booze consumed during the Fleadh. Enabling them to stagger home safely on car-free streets is just one more reason for permanent pedestrianisation in Belfast.
Featured image via NewsLetter
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Tech7 days agoPage Not Found | WIRED
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News Videos6 days ago#crypto #cryptocurrency #cryptonews #cuet2026 #ceuta
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