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Am I a chicken-shop lefty? Here's what a French fast food row taught me about politics | Coco Khan

The Guardian Politics Sunday 26 July 2026, 07:00 UTC By Coco Khan 1 min read
Key Points

Feathers are flying over the halal chicken chain Master Poulet opening a branch in gentrified Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine – it’s an issue of wealth and class we know only too wellHow do you like your progressive politics? Are you net-zero left or anti-identity politics left? A “legalising drugs” kind of radical or someone whose public sector solidarity includes police?

Feathers are flying over the halal chicken chain Master Poulet opening a branch in gentrified Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine – it’s an issue of wealth and class we know only too well

How do you like your progressive politics? Are you net-zero left or anti-identity politics left? A “legalising drugs” kind of radical or someone whose public sector solidarity includes police? Nato or Nat-no? The reputation for infighting in lefty spaces – where policy disagreements harden into personal tests of morality – needs neither introduction nor encouragement.

But reading about the left-on-left battle at Master Poulet, a French chicken chain that just opened its first UK branch, I found myself mulling a question that felt more than a little personal: am I chicken shop left?

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French (ORG) Coco Khan Feathers (PERSON) Poulet (PERSON) Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine (LOCATION) Nato (ORG) Nat (PERSON) UK (LOCATION)
Originally published by The Guardian Politics Read original →

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