Spot the difference

You may notice that your Spectator looks a little different this week. We have updated its design, but cautiously, taking the best ideas from past magazines, and refreshing the rest. Even the tidiest house needs a little spring-cleaning from time to time. Many read the Spectator back to front, so our peerless books and arts sections now have their own opening page. Some readers felt that Taki and Jeremy Clarke were buried at the back of the Arts section, so we’ve given them a section of their own — Life begins at page 71. And we’ve made room for some shorter features as well as long reads.

And what of the character of The Spectator? We’ve changed it not one jot. We have no interest in striving to be modern, and no need to either. Our principles are the same in the 21st century as they were in the 19th. We adhere not to any political doctrine, but to elegance of expression and originality of thought. We seek to offer a refuge from an often censorious and humourless world — which is why we’ve devoted this first issue to a ‘thought crime special’. Our new design makes the magazine, we hope, a little easier to navigate. But please do tell us what you think: this is, after all, your magazine.