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Five Takeaways From the U.K. General Election
The Labour Party won a resounding victory over the Conservatives, but smaller parties, including the populist Reform, did better than expected.
By Stephen Castle
My work covers a wide range of topics across the region, with a focus on how policy impacts people and society. I have traveled across the United Kingdom reporting on issues ranging from national identity to health care to immigration to the impact of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. I have also reported extensively in Ireland, where I lived for several years, on the major moments shaping that country. I look for local stories with international resonance.
Since early 2022, I have also been a part of our coverage of the war in Ukraine, where I have traveled across the country to tell the story of the conflict. I have covered deadly airstrikes in Kyiv, Ukraine, the devastation in once-occupied cities, the destruction of the country’s infrastructure and the impact of the war on society, with a focus on the most vulnerable.
I have worked at The Times since 2016 covering major stories around the world. Before moving to London in 2019, I covered breaking international news from New York, where I also spent a year working on award-winning storytelling with the video department.
I was born and raised in New Jersey, and graduated with a journalism degree from the University of New Hampshire, before beginning my journalism career in Ireland. I have reported from Europe, Asia, Africa and the U.S. during my years as a journalist. I completed a master’s degree in international affairs at King’s College in London in 2022.
I aim for my stories to be accurate and empathetic and to shine a light on issues, people and places that aren’t always visible. The region I cover is full of diverse communities, and my work tries to reflect that diversity. As a Times journalist I hold myself to the standards outlined in The Times’s Ethical Journalism handbook.
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The Labour Party won a resounding victory over the Conservatives, but smaller parties, including the populist Reform, did better than expected.
By Stephen Castle
A new U.S. president usually has a two-month window to prepare to move into the White House. Freshly elected British prime ministers move into Downing Street much more swiftly.
By Megan Specia
Many British Muslims and other voters have demanded that party leaders more vocally condemn the rising death toll and deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
By Megan Specia
Plus, the F.B.I. wades into an Olympics swimming scandal.
By Michael Simon Johnson, Megan Specia, Ian Stewart and Jessica Metzger
This was featured in live coverage.
By Megan Specia
The 61-year-old former human rights lawyer lacks the star power of some of his predecessors but led a remarkable turnaround for the Labour Party.
By Stephen Castle, Mark Landler and Megan Specia
This was featured in live coverage.
By Mark Landler, Megan Specia and Stephen Castle
As voters cast their ballots in a pivotal election, many in the southern English city of Portsmouth expressed disillusionment over what they see as national and local decline.
By Megan Specia
Ms. Letby, who had previously been found guilty in a string of murders and attempted murders, was retried and found guilty of another attempted murder.
By Megan Specia
A battle over the history of Britain’s prized country houses offers a window into the national mood before a pivotal election.
By Megan Specia
The WikiLeaks founder spent years in captivity in London before talks accelerated this spring, allowing him to go home to Australia as a felon, but a free man.
By Glenn Thrush and Megan Specia
Many young people in the northern English cities of Liverpool and Manchester say they feel disillusioned by politics.
By Megan Specia
Many young people feel disillusioned by politics in the United Kingdom, as the country readies for a pivotal general election after 14 years of Conservative governments. Megan Specia, an international correspondent for The New York Times based in London, spoke with young voters in the northern English cities of Liverpool and Manchester to hear their perspectives on the election.
By Megan Specia and Nikolay Nikolov
The co-founder of WikiLeaks was a heroic crusader for truth to many people for publishing government secrets. To others, he was a reckless leaker endangering lives.
By Mark Landler and Megan Specia
Explore a whiskey renaissance, tour the country’s oldest public library and brave a brisk sea dip in the Irish capital.
By Megan Specia
Emperor Naruhito is touring the famous botanic gardens this week as part of a state visit to Britain with his wife, Empress Masako.
By Megan Specia
Barring last-minute snags, the deal would bring to an end a prolonged battle that began after the WikiLeaks founder became alternately celebrated and reviled for revealing state secrets in the 2010s.
By Glenn Thrush and Megan Specia
Jim McCann was an I.R.A. member who, convicted of attempted murder, spent 18 years in jail. Now, he’s an educator, and his turn away from violence mirrors Northern Ireland’s embrace of peace.
By Megan Specia
Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers have resettled in the U.K. since 2021, among them prominent pro-democracy activists. China has not forgotten them.
By Megan Specia
In a small English village, a group of dedicated locals has unearthed the remains of a long-vanished palace that had been home to Henry VIII’s grandmother.
By Megan Specia
The moves, while largely symbolic, were welcomed by Palestinians and denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called them “a prize for terrorism.”
By Aaron Boxerman, Emma Bubola and Michael Levenson
Simon Harris, Ireland’s prime minister, invoked his nation’s struggle for independence from Britain and its decades of violent sectarian conflict.
By Megan Specia
Matthew Trickett, one of three men accused of gathering information for the special administrative region of China, died in a park outside London, the police said.
By Megan Specia
The WikiLeaks founder won his bid to appeal his extradition to the United States on espionage charges, opening a new chapter in a prolonged legal battle.
By Megan Specia
A hearing on Monday will determine whether Julian Assange has any more recourse in the British courts to appeal his extradition to the United States.
By Megan Specia and Emma Bubola
Russia also warned of further action, while the British foreign secretary called the expulsion a “desperate move.”
By Neil MacFarquhar
Britain’s foreign office said it had reprimanded the Chinese ambassador, a day after three men were charged with assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service.
By Stephen Castle, Mara Hvistendahl and Megan Specia
While the ballots were still being counted on Friday, big losses for the Conservative Party could signal a difficult general election later this year.
By Megan Specia
Voters choose local officials in England and Wales this week. Their verdicts could be an important clue to the shape of Britain’s looming general election.
By Megan Specia
For the tens of thousands of asylum seekers in Britain, a new law brings the possibility of deportation to central Africa closer. We asked how it was affecting them.
By Megan Specia and Emma Bubola
The plan has been in the works for years, but the passage of a contentious bill by Britain’s Parliament puts the country closer to sending asylum seekers to the African nation.
By Megan Specia
Dr. Shafik, who also goes by Minouche, is facing criticism from multiple sides over how she is handling protests over the war in Gaza on her campus.
By Troy Closson and Megan Specia
For years, Harry and his wife, Meghan, have considered California home. This week, he updated his residency in a corporate filing.
By Megan Specia
Iranian reporters and broadcasters in Britain have suffered physical attacks, threats and surveillance, a report by Reporters Without Borders said, weeks after a newscaster was stabbed in London.
By Megan Specia
The U.K. government hoped to pass a bill this week, two years after the plan was first unveiled, in an effort to override a ruling by Britain’s highest court.
By Megan Specia
American officials sought to reassure the U.K. about Julian Assange’s treatment should the former WikiLeaks founder, who has been indicted by the U.S., be sent there.
By Megan Specia
The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange spent five years in a London prison while contesting extradition efforts. Before that, he holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy.
By Megan Specia
After a swift political rise, Simon Harris, 37, was confirmed as Ireland’s premier. But his time as head of the government could be short.
By Megan Specia
Ireland did not outline the argument it planned to advance at the court, but the country’s lawmakers have made repeated calls to prioritize the protection of civilians in Gaza.
By Megan Specia
British judges asked the United States, which wants to try the WikiLeaks founder on espionage charges, for more guarantees about his treatment.
By Megan Specia
On Tuesday, two British judges will decide whether the WikiLeaks founder can appeal his extradition order to the United States.
By Emma Bubola and Megan Specia
The woman whose very existence once seemed to threaten the royal family’s stability has emerged as a stabilizing force during a major health crisis.
By Mark Landler and Megan Specia
Many expressed compassion for Catherine, Princess of Wales, a woman who has spent much of the past two decades with every aspect of her life scrutinized.
By Megan Specia
This was featured in live coverage.
By Megan Specia
Leo Varadkar, the prime minister of the Republic of Ireland, resigned unexpectedly, prompting a political scramble. Here’s what to know about what happens next.
By Megan Specia
Leo Varadkar, whose Fine Gael party has struggled in the polls, said he would step down as leader of the country and of his party, citing “personal and political reasons.”
By Megan Specia
A continuing protest in the town of Roscrea symbolizes a surge in hostility toward migrants in Ireland that is fueled by a housing crisis and far-right influencers.
By Megan Specia
The vote against the changes dealt a blow to a government that had hoped for an easy victory. But the outcome does not necessarily reflect a turn toward a more conservative electorate.
By Megan Specia
Two proposed amendments, which voters considered on Friday, were intended to reflect the more secular, liberal values of the nation’s modern era.
By Megan Specia
The country will consider two amendments: one to remove the reference to a woman’s domestic duties and another to expand the definition of family.
By Megan Specia
After a national incident was declared in January, officials have been scrambling to address problematically low levels of immunization.
By Megan Specia
Troubling information about the past of the man who killed Sarah Everard in 2021, a case that shook Britain, should have prevented him from joining the force, a long-awaited report said.
By Megan Specia
A judge said a new British law aiming to foster reconciliation over decades of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland would breach the European Convention on Human Rights.
By Megan Specia
The Crooked House was knocked down last summer after a suspicious fire. Local authorities have now ordered that the owners reconstruct the site brick by brick.
By Megan Specia
An appeals court upheld a decision that means Ms. Begum, who has been living in a refugee camp in Syria since 2019, remains effectively stateless.
By Megan Specia
Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has been in prison for nearly 5 years, fighting a U.S. extradition order. A hearing is his last chance to be granted an appeal in Britain.
By Megan Specia
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that Aleksei Navalny, the Russian dissident, “was killed by Putin, like thousands of others.”
By Erika Solomon, Melissa Eddy, Constant Méheut, Megan Specia and Steven Erlanger
The British monarch and Queen Camilla went for a brief walk to a church on the estate where they live. Buckingham Palace said last week that the king was being treated for an unspecified form of cancer.
By Megan Specia
At a time of turmoil for Britain’s royal family, an exhibition at Windsor Castle provides an insight into the lives of an earlier king and queen.
By Megan Specia
The idea of a first minister who supports closer ties to the Republic of Ireland — let alone one from Sinn Fein, a party with historic ties to the Irish Republican Army — was once unthinkable. On Saturday, it became reality.
By Megan Specia
A judge ruled that Donald J. Trump had no grounds for claiming compensation over the dossier from Christopher Steele, a former British spy.
By Megan Specia
David Cameron, the foreign secretary, said that his country and other allies should show Palestinians “irreversible progress” toward an independent state.
By Megan Specia
The British government said it would act after surveys showed that the number of young people trying vapes had risen sharply.
By Megan Specia
Hoping to repeat the success of Manhattan’s park, London is transforming a disused rail line, elevated 25 feet above the city’s streets, into its own floating green space.
By Megan Specia
Long a vital lifeline for Gazans, the agency known as UNRWA was a point of contention with Israel long before some of its workers were accused of taking part in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
By Monika Pronczuk and Richard Pérez-Peña
The British government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Africa is back in Parliament this week. Here’s a guide to some of the difficult realities behind the issue.
By Megan Specia
The government said it would designate the international Islamist political group a terrorist organization, citing what it said was Hizb ut-Tahrir’s praise for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
By Megan Specia
Soaring rents have left many struggling to afford homes in Dublin and have created a generational divide. Two-thirds of younger adults in the city live with their parents.
By Megan Specia
French authorities said that a ship carrying migrants trying to reach Britain had been “reported in difficulty” off the coast of northern France. More than 30 people were rescued.
By Aurelien Breeden and Megan Specia
The front line in Ukraine is largely peopled by the elderly these days. Some can’t afford to get out. Others say they won’t abandon their homes.
By Lynsey Addario and Megan Specia
An “integrated care center” brings doctors, physiotherapists, social workers and pharmacists under one roof. It won’t solve Britain’s underlying social care crisis — but it could help.
By Megan Specia
As millions fled, some expatriates made the unlikely decision to remain in Ukraine, among them students determined to finish their education and others who now consider it home.
By Megan Specia and Laura Boushnak
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said there was no justification for “violence, arson or vandalism.” The blaze came weeks after an anti-immigrant riot in Dublin.
By Megan Specia
The ruling was a major victory for the royal in his long-running campaign against media intrusion into his life — and a blow to Britain’s tabloid press.
By Megan Specia and Mark Landler
The government said a group linked to Russia’s intelligence service carried out sustained operations to undermine trust in Britain’s political system.
By Adam Satariano, Megan Specia and Glenn Thrush
The disorder in Dublin on Nov. 23 may have appeared to come from nowhere. But experts say it reflected long-running social problems and an emboldened anti-immigrant movement.
By Megan Specia
In a country with its own history of a seemingly intractable conflict, the majority of people in Ireland are sympathetic to Palestinian civilians, while also condemning the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7.
By Megan Specia
With the contentious Rwanda plan in disarray, experts say the U.K. government should focus on a huge backlog of asylum cases, including 50,000 people in hotels.
By Megan Specia
Dealing a major blow to the governing Conservative Party, Britain’s highest court said the East African country was not a safe place for refugees.
By Megan Specia
Cleverly is generally seen as less ideological and more of a team player than his predecessor in the Home Office, Suella Braverman.
By Megan Specia