🎉 Big News 🎉

We're proud to see @rachaelhealy.bsky.social has been shortlisted at The British Journalism Awards, in part for her Londoner exposé on the comedy club 21Soho.

After The Londoner got the scoop about a Proceeds of Crime Act prosecution being used by Lewisham Council over a planning dispute with a Turkish restaurant, the issue just got mentioned in parliament.

Catch up on the original story here: www.the-londoner.co.uk/one-of-south...

Aziz is a hugely prolific landlord. Through his companies, he owns everything from the Dalston McDonalds to huge parts of Leicester Square.

His empire is hard to map. But we've discovered he's been busy with London's pubs.

“You know what I think is his problem, very, very, honestly?” the man said. “He doesn’t understand that there is a limit".

In West London, an Italian charmer is duping the owners of the city's priciest properties, leaving a trail of debt and damage. This is the story of Claudio Di Giovanni.

This is how London looked at the last council elections. But after scores of defections and lost by-elections and a record slump in the polls, could this map look very different at next year's local elections?

“Set is full of lots of young, trendy, creative people [wearing] charity shop clothes and Tabis – very hot girls, very bedraggled boys,” says a 26 year old graphic designer, “they’re not quite champagne socialists… but they are a little bit.”

If you don’t live in south-east London or know anyone who graduated from Goldsmiths in the last 10 years, you may not have heard of Set Social. But for many young creatives — the kind of people who frequent Venue MOT and have opinions on ethical non-monogamy — it's a big deal.

"Some facts regarding the opening of Stephen Shames' new show at Amar Gallery: there is no white wine, only orange; the person glowering beneath a scuffed cap is controversial actor Ezra Miller; I'm the only one eating the canapés; and nearly every other person here is a model."

After leaving the army, We R Blighty founder Ben Mills worked in sales for Scottish Power, and later as a consultant for the highly controversial DeVere group.

Mills denies all of the allegations put to him by The Londoner, claiming that they have been concocted.

Jan Mohammed has done everything from guerrilla marketing for Nike, to mortgage fraud. Now he's helming a club so popular it's reshaping the local area. What makes him tick?

Exciting to see that @andrewkersley.bsky.social's story on the plan to free the 15 penguins stuck in the basement of the London Aquarium has become @londonminute.bsky.social's most clicked link ever!

John took up the mantle of Shrek in the height of summer.

The health risks of wearing the costume were so severe that actors could spend a maximum of half an hour playing the ogre before they had to be pulled out of the suit for their own safety.

John’s daily dives into the swamp were hard work. There were the voices: the Muffin Man’s accent left his throat in agony. Make-up was a nightmare too. The role of the Ugly Stepsister required full drag.

The Muffin Man's fake pencil moustache was worse; the glue ripped away flesh.

In 2017, John had just graduated from a prestigious drama school. He was 22. Like so many other aspiring actors, needed stable work.

After a brief audition - where he had to deliver a monologue as the Muffin Man, proving his ability to master the French accent - John was in.

Immersive experiences have exploded in the UK capital in recent years. But one green pioneer was there before 'Monopoly Lifesized' was just a dream of one canny IP exploiter.

Shrek's Adventure, in London's historic County Hall, is a black box. A former employee took us inside.

A few weeks ago, mysterious posters appeared around Hampstead Heath calling for residents to "take back" the area from gay men.

Was it guerrilla marketing or a homophobic crusade?

These are pictures of the conditions at two new blocks of flats in Barking.

The firms that built them were given tens of millions in contracts by the council to do so, after giving expensive gifts and even jobs to councillors.

The council called it a "non-story". Do you agree?

Dildos, nesting pigeons, dead bodies — and Dimitar Berbatov.

Read @milesellingham.bsky.social's fascinating piece on what, exactly, is happening in the Tube tunnels at night: www.the-londoner.co.uk/tube-cleaner...