about me
I’m a freelance writer from Melksham, Wiltshire, specialising in social and cultural stories. I was previously a staff writer at The Economist, where I covered British society, culture and politics, and I’ve also written for the New Statesman, the Financial Times, the Telegraph, the Mail, the i Paper, the Mirror, the Spectator and City A.M.
I have written about the rise of country music in Britain, a Christian run club that performs its own baptisms, the politics of MMA clubs, the spread of London slang around the world, changes in the illegal drugs market during covid-19 and innovative branding strategies by America’s new trade unions.
I have also embedded with protest movements, covered general elections, local elections and the covid-19 pandemic. I have appeared on podcasts and radio, and have experience producing and editing podcasts myself.
In 2022 I decided to train as a teacher and now work at an outstanding state school in north London. I’m always looking for new things to work on — so do get in touch!
My email is: elliottgakime@gmail.com and my Twitter is @ElliottKime.
selected work
The New Statesman - God on the move
The Economist - Why country music is booming in Britain
The Economist - From Taylor Swift to Star Trek, niche cruises are on the rise
The Economist - Dealers are selling war trophies to buy weapons for Ukraine
The Economist - Britain has a growing problem with dangerous dogs
The Economist - Britain’s offshore wind farms attract tourists
The Economist - British farmers face up to the prospect of drought
The Economist - Britain’s empty churches are turning into campsites
The Economist - New trade unions in America are successfully using company brands
The Economist - A radical group of ramblers roams the British countryside
The Economist - Discover the charm of Wendell Berry’s rural tales
The Economist - Americans are testing their dogs’ DNA, with some remarkable results
The Economist - Why do people love “Peaky Blinders”?
The Economist - Boris Johnson’s infrastructure schemes will face opposition
The Economist - Mark Drakeford wants to shake up Welsh politics
The Economist - How a modernist architect won over traditionalists
The Economist - Britain’s film industry is booming
The Economist - A new general secretary at Unite plots a radical overhaul
The Economist - The battle for north London’s public space
The Economist - Farmers are being targeted by cyber-criminals
The Economist - A conservative sport gets a glitzy makeover
The Economist - Opponents of housebuilding claim to care more about the environment than prices
The Economist - England is building more homes than it has for many years
The Economist - Local news is booming
The Economist - The anti-lockdown movement is still going strong
The Economist - Dastardly crimes such as dog-napping are on the rise
The Economist - Why farms are moving into solar energy, campsites and natural burials
The Economist - London is starting to build more council homes
The Economist - The fight to define the great British garden
The Economist - Covid-19 has pushed English lawyers online
The Economist - Second homes are coming under increasing attack in Wales
The Economist - Welsh nationalism is stirring
The Economist - Britain’s boozers are going al fresco
The Economist - Britain's census form reveals the obsessions of different eras
The Economist - Why “red wall” Tories want to open a coal mine
The Economist - Solar power’s NIMBY problem
The Economist - Many Britons are breaking the rules in many different ways
The Economist - Killings of sheep by dogs shows a delicate rural balance out of kilter
The Economist - Grime and UK drill are exporting Multicultural London English
The Economist - Black Lives Matter in Britain’s top public schools
The Economist - Britain’s big potholes problem
The Economist - Protest is spreading to the provinces
The Economist - Competitive Remembrance Day celebrations
The Economist - Britain’s stately-home boom
The Economist - Derby Assembly Rooms and the brutalism battle
The Economist - Mixed martial arts is on the rise in Britain
The Economist - Defund the BBC, home for idling Brexiteers
The Economist - Britain’s treasure-hunting hobbyists get professional
The Economist - Bringing down the cost of school uniforms
The Economist - Labour’s left wing is trying a new strategy to gain influence
The Economist - Inexperienced workers make for a difficult harvest
The Economist - Britain’s urban explorers worry their playgrounds will be demolished
The Economist - Britain’s Gypsies and travellers demand justice
The Economist - Black Lives Matter and the British army’s culture war
The Economist - How the government may end up with a stake in a sex-party company
The Economist - What next for Black Lives Matter UK?
The Economist - Online services swell the Church of England’s congregations
The Economist - Rising puppy prices
The Economist - Britain’s palaces and stately homes are empty
The Economist - The alarming popularity of prehistoric dentistry
The Economist - Trade unions are back
The Economist - What will be the new normal for offices?
The Economist - Covid-19 is killing Londoners at a faster rate than German bombs did
The Economist - The freemasons want to be known for hand wash, not handshakes
The Economist - Not enough Britons want to work on farms
The Economist - How covid-19 is changing funerals
The Economist - British soldiers struggle to maintain social distance
The Economist - Coke is out, weed is in
The Economist - How panic buying is affecting supermarkets
The Economist - For some Britons, coronavirus means apocalypse soon
The Economist - Britain’s shooting ranges could be in trouble
The Economist - Oxford University restores Maasai artefacts
The Economist - Why aristocrats are flocking to the creative arts
The Economist - Why Turkish barbers are taking over Britain’s high streets
The Economist - Grime music, Bradford-style
The Economist - Rock singer, razor dealer, humanist celebrant: ex-MPs with odd jobs
The Economist - Meet Parliament’s class of 2019
The Economist - The way to a soldier’s heart is through his stomach
The Economist - How the anarchists of Extinction Rebellion got so well organised
The Economist - Britain’s old-boy networks go online