So, due to the nagging of just about everybody in my social and professional circles (yes, especially you reading this, you know who you are), I'll be taking this weekend off to rest and recharge or something in Venice.

However, that doesn't mean that I don't have a small request from you lovely readers of mine!

The project was originally planned as temporary publication working around the presidential elections, so I never expected for it to grow into what it's now become, or for it to attract such a large following of loyal readers.

Firstly, thank you very much for the support, I love and appreciate you all.

Secondly, said request:

As the newsletter is now a larger project that I'm running alongside my day job in the Brussels political game, my other work across French, British and global politics, and my consultancy work (as well as some sort of social life), the level of work is getting quite high.

Therefore, in order to help run The French Dispatch and make it the best that it can be, I wanted to ask if I could request some support from you lovely people:

• If you know people who would be interested in this publication, please share it with at least five people out of your general network of friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances to help us make the The French Dispatch community bigger

• If you have any suggestions for future issues, or topics you’d find interesting, please don’t hesitate to comment on the articles to tell me what you’d like to read

• If you are currently a writer on Substack and you enjoy my work, please consider recommending The French Dispatch

• If you’re already recommending The French Dispatch, why not write a blurb on why you like my writing?

• Enjoy what you read but think you can contribute something interesting on French or European politics that I sometimes miss? Comment or message me directly on social media and let me know what you’d like to write and we can see how we can work together!

• And above all else, if you’ve been enjoying this newsletter over the past year-or-so that it’s been in writing, why not consider purchasing a subscription to help fund my work, including coffee midnight caffeine-fuelled writing sessions?

No matter what you choose, I will be forever grateful to the thousands of you who have supported me this far, and who I hope will continue to support me over the next few months and, hopefully, the coming years!

Thank you for reading the French Dispatch! If you like what you read please don’t hesitate to subscribe by putting your email below:

And if you’d like to contribute a coffee or two to help power my coverage of the wild world of politics, feel free to click on the picture below: