Olly Haynes, JournalistI am a journalist and researcher based in the UK. I work regularly in France, and have reported from Spain and on other European countries.
I have written for the Guardian, Vice World News, The i newspaper, Rolling Stone UK, Huck Magazine, Novara Media, Open Democracy and many others.
My work so far has covered politics, social movements and trade unions. However, I am still early in my career and looking to investigate new themes and travel further afield. I have mainly written reported features, political comment pieces and the odd news story, although I have a master's degree in news journalism and feel comfortable writing across multiple formats from short blogs, to breaking news, to essays.
I have also worked as a research assistant for Kiran Ridley, an award winning Paris based photojournalist. I have researched stories in Ukraine, Armenia, France and the UAE to help Kiran's photojournalism.
I regularly contribute public domain research to Project Brazen for their upcoming projects. My research for Project Brazen has seen me look into the affairs of oligarchs, corruption in the new space race and shady mining contracts in Central Africa.
I also write the occasional piece for my Substack newsletter First Draft which you can find here https://firstdraftofhistory.substack.com/
And I am a cohost of the FLEP24 podcast on French politics which you can find where ever you get your podcasts.
Articles
The Guardian
Macron cosied up to consultants and lobbyists and lost voters – Starmer’s Labour risks doing the same (June 2024)
Five years on, the world is failing to learn the gilets jaunes’ lesson about class and climate (November 2023)
European conservative parties are out of ideas, but absorbing the far right isn’t the answer (August 2023)
There’s only one winner from Macron’s hardline response to pension protests: the far right (April 2023)
‘My balance is on zero’: young Europeans on their first experience of inflation (December 2022)
When voters abstain, France takes notice – the UK should learn to do the same (April 2022)
When a far-right candidate has ‘le buzz’, France shouldn’t take young people for granted (December 2021)
Rolling Stone UK
Inside England’s experiments with the four-day working week (June 2022)
The Fence Magazine
Houellebecq Honeypot (June 2024)
Vice World News
Bosses Have Found a Horrible New Way to Attack Workers' Rights (June 2021)
Novara Media
Even in Defeat, the French Far Right Is in Its Strongest Position Yet (July 2024)
Two Tory Ex-Chancellors Met With French Far-Right Politician Eric Zemmour in London (February 2024)
France’s Youngest Ever Prime Minister Is Part of Macronism’s Shift to the Right (January 2024)
Spies, Surveillance and a ‘State Within the State’: How France’s Richest Man Built His Luxury Empire (December 2023)
Meet the French MP Who Went From Cleaning Hotel Rooms to Taking on the Country’s Political Elite (August 2023)
French Climate Activists Are Waging War Against Water Hoarders (July 2023)
Seven Years After Cops Killed Her Brother, Assa Traoré is at the Frontline of France’s Fight Against Police Violence (July 2023)
French Protesters Are Thinking Up New Ways to Stop Macron’s Pension Reforms (May 2023)
French Leftwing Publisher Detained by UK Counter-Terrorism Police (April 2023)
France’s ‘Robin Hood’ Energy Workers Are Sending Cheap Electricity to Schools and Hospitals (March 2023)
Could Pension Reform End Macron? (February 2023)
Terfs Are Marginal in France. A New Media Platform Plans to Keep It That Way (June 2022)
‘We Want to Breathe’: Anti-Racist, Environmental and Gilets Jaunes Campaigners Are Joining Forces in France (August 2020)
‘We Are Not Lying Down’: The Teachers Leading France’s Strike Wave (January 2020)
Myth-Busting the Student Vote: Will a December Election Mean Poor Turnout? Will This Affect Labour? (November 2019)
How the Gilets Jaunes Launched a Movement Against Police Violence (April 2019)
Open Democracy
Gilets Jaunes under attack (January 2019)
Remainers! beware demographic arguments (January 2019)
Gilets Jaunes and the two faces of Facebook (January 2019)
Yellow Vests – the first battle (December 2018)
The Trouble Magazine
How to Blow Up a Pipeline: A Review and Interview with the Creators (July 2023)
“It’s not you, it’s your car”: A Night Out with SUV Saboteurs (September 2022)
Anti-Racism, Climate, and Popular Ecology: a Potent Alliance in France (August 2020)
We Need a Basic Income to Future-Proof Society (April 2020)
Tribune Magazine
Silencing Palestine Solidarity (May 2024)
The French Left’s Next Chance (May 2022)
The Philosophy of the Gilets Jaunes (April 2021)
Le Combat Adama (June 2020)
Huck Magazine
The French anarchists who took on sinister tech giants (June 2022)
Dissent Magazine
Sharon Graham’s Fighting Union (December 2022)
City Monitor
Could new community banks change Britain for the better? (August 2019)
New Internationalist
New Caledonians are Still Fighting to be Free of France (May 2024)
Review: If We Burn. The Mass Protest Decade And The Missing Revolution (December 23/January 24 print issue).
Police violence against Gilets Jaunes sparks broad backlash (February 2019)
Euro News Green
'Robin Hood' electricians and oil blockades: The radical tactics of France’s striking energy workers (March 2023)
The i Newspaper
Why sabotage tactics by militant groups are on the rise across Europe (July 2024)
Who is behind the attacks on France’s national rail networks? (July 2024)
I’m a Briton living in France – expats need their own MPs (June 2024)
French strikes: Activists accuse police of violence as officers use tear gas and rubber bullets at protests (March 2023)
It's Freezing In LA
The Evolution of Direct Action (April 2023)
Jacobin
Emmanuel Macron’s France Is a Broken Republic (August 2024)
Shut Down the Companies That Are Arming Israel’s War (November 2023)
“Pro-Worker Conservatism” Has Only Empty Gestures for Workers (July 2023)
L’alarmante ascension de l’extrême droite au Royaume-Uni (November 2024)
Gaza : Au Royaume-Uni, les blocages d’usines d’armement se multiplient (February 2024)
Byline Times (author page and selected clips)
The Pro-Trump Money Pushing Libertarian ‘Young Voices’ on British TV (October 2024)
How Far-Right Billionaires are Destroying French Politics – and What the UK Must Learn (July 2024)
Reform Candidate Andrew Raw Suspended by Party Over ‘Extreme Racism and Hateful’ Social Media Posts (May 2024)
Reform Parliamentary Candidate Who Shared Racist Content Resigns After Questions by Byline Times (March 2024)
Unherd
Marion Maréchal’s new party could shake up the French Right (October 2024)
Macron has laid out Marine Le Pen's path to power (September 2024)
France’s political deadlock reveals Macron’s authoritarian side (August 2024)
Has Marine Le Pen conquered the centrists? (June 2024)
The French Right’s cordon sanitaire is breaking down (June 2024)
French farmers are the new Gilets Jaunes (April 2024)
First Priorities (April 2024)
The New Arab
Modern McCarthyism: Crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices in France (May 2024)
New Statesman
Macron’s Olympic Games are becoming France’s nightmare (July 2024)
Can a feuding French left keep out the far right? (June 2024)
Prospect Magazine
The anti-fascist MP on France’s security watchlist (October 2024)
Whale Hunting (Project Brazen)
Snakes and Sheiks (August 2024)
The Lead Magazine
From Gaza's skies to Cardigan Bay: The drone testing facility dividing a Welsh village (October 2024)
REVIEW - NEON SCREAMS (April 2022)
Broadcasts
Macron’s Own Goal - Novara FM - I was interviewed by Novara's Richard Hames about the long duree of the crisis in France.
Vive La Révolution? w/ Olly Haynes - Macrodose - I guest hosted an episode of Macrodose on the fallout of the French elections.
France and the Far Right - Byline Podcast - I went on the Byline podcast alongside Assa Samake Roman to talk about the rise of the far right in France.
Far Right On The Brink Of Power w/ Olly Haynes - Macrodose - I went on James Meadway's podcast Macrodose to talk about the 2024 French legislative elections.
Blinken continues diplomacy in Jordan and Qatar
Arson attacks in Bangladesh before general election - I was a panelist on the BBC World Service Weekend show in January 2024 discussing Gaza, Macron, Taiwan, Darts and more.
TPS167 ROUNDTABLE: NANCY FRASER | Jilly Boyce Kay, Olly Haynes, Mareile Pfannebecker - I appeared on the Popular show with Jilly Boyce Kay and Mareile Pfannebecker to discuss the philosophy of Nancy Fraser and what implications her analysis has for contemporary politics.
Tout Le Monde Déteste La Police - I went to Paris with Novara Media's Richard Hames where I sourced and translated interviews for this audio documentary on which I also appeared.
TPS149 STARTING TO STAND UP FOR YOURSELF - I appeared on the Popular Show to discuss protests in France, the politics of energy and the changing politics of climate activism.
Paris Is Burning, RMT Reach A Deal, Braverman Enjoys Rwanda | #NovaraLIVE - I appeared on Novara Live to discuss the outcome of the 2023 Vote of No Confidence in Macron's government, the protests against the use of article 49.3 of the constitution, and the strikes against pension reform.
Mélenchon would never have endorsed Biden - I appeared on the Popular Show's YouTube channel with Marlon Ettinger to discuss the outcomes of the French legislative elections.
La République C'est Moi - I appeared on the Popular Show with Marlon Ettinger ahead of the first round of the French election.
Research and Editing Credits
I helped edit the script of A Sense of Rebellion, Evgeny Morozov's podcast about early maverick pioneers of AI.
Awards
Freelancing For Journalists Awards 2023 (shortlist)
I was shortlisted for the award for best piece of work by a student/early career journalist in the inaugural FFJ awards, for my piece in Novara Media on France's Robin Hood protests.
https://freelancingforjournalists.substack.com/p/the-ffj-awards-shortlist-is-here
Orwell Society/NUJ Young Journalist's Award 2022 (Runner Up)
I was the runner up in the Orwell Society and NUJ Young Journalist Award in the political writing category for a piece on Clarion Housing Association and the regulation (or lack thereof) of social housing providers.
https://orwellsociety.com/bursary/winners-of-the-orwell-society-nuj-young-journalists-award-announced/
Hugo Young Award 2021 (Highly Commended)
I was highly commended in the Guardian's Hugo Young Award for political writing for a piece on the rise of the far right politician Eric Zemmour.
https://www.theguardian.com/gnm-press-office/2021/dec/02/queens-university-belfast-student-abby-wallace-wins-the-2021-guardian-foundations-hugo-young-award
Contact me
For general communication email me at ollyhaynes360@gmail.com
For sensitive story tips or other secure communications email me at ollyhaynesjourno@protonmail.com
My twitter is @reality_manager. I'm often locked, but I'll accept your follow request if you seem cool.
