Marina Hyde

Another rollercoaster year of political upheaval, sporting drama and pop cultural WTF-ery could have been specifically designed for twice weekly intervention by Marina Hyde. She has often been hilarious and always perceptive across the broadest range of subjects, but also markedly unafraid to use her platform to call out injustice.

The election in July marked the chance for Hyde to get out on the trail, filing daily comment pieces from around the country as the UK headed sea change. These culminated in her article written in the small hours of July 5th, casting a satirical eye over the election results right across the spectrum, and marking the end of the era of political chaos in which she became un unmissable voice. From Starmer to Sunak to Galloway to Farage, the column was characterised for its use of light and shade, and her ability to make serious or troubling points even while making you laugh. “Meanwhile, it’s incredible to think that only a short while ago we thought we’d eradicated measles and Nigel Farage. Both have now been brought back, largely by the same people.”

On March 5th, Hyde dived into the mushrooming controversy around F1 Red Bull team principal Christian Horner – or as she christened it, Keeping Up With The Carkrashians. As always, Hyde worked to make the subject accessible even for those not versed in the subject – in this case the machinations and manipulations of F1 and its attendant circus. The column reflected Hyde’s belief that something can be made fun for people to read about even if they don’t have an interest in the subject – and even if all sorts of legal constrictions are preventing you from writing about a lot of it. It also showcased her deep immersion in the world of TV entertainment and its characters and blockbuster trends, lifting the veil to give readers a behind-the-scenes laugh at things those who control this world would really rather they took seriously instead.

It was another year of belated “discovery” of alleged sex crimes, with all sorts of people professing shock – shock! – to learn that the late Mohammed Fayed and the still living P Diddy were accused of multiple sexual offences, and had been, quietly, for decades. On September 24th, Hyde drew these two stories together to direct her anger at the armies of enablers who surrounded them and allowed them to allegedly continue their abuses for so long. With NDAs multiplying exponentially all the time in the upper echelons of business and entertainment, her column is a look at the enabling class that profits off knowing “nothing” about what is really happening