At the end of every year cartoonists put down their pens, lean back from their drawing boards and think — well, next year can’t be as crazy as this year was. And we’re always proved wrong.
Who could have predicted that 2023 would produce a scandalous tell-all book about the royal family, by a member of the royal family; a politician even more divisive than Matt Hancock entering the jungle; the Government ripping itself apart over a policy that affects literally only a few hundred asylum-seekers; an opposition that has a miraculously large lead in the polls despite having zero policies; and another horrific war, just as the Fallen were being remembered?
Political cartooning is like cooking a dish. You have multiple ingredients, throw them all in the pot, simmer, and reduce and reduce until it’s combined into an immediate, easy-to-digest flavour hit. My job, therefore, is to present you with my opinion of the political story of the day, served up bite-size.
The year started as the last one ended — with war in Ukraine. Russia at first seemed to be Goliath to Ukraine’s David, but Vladimir Putin was not expecting the international heft behind Volodymyr Zelensky. I had him asking, “You and who’s army?”, but there was an answer — Nato.
Not everyone was overly willing to help arm Ukraine though, and I resorted to some old-fashioned English sniggering as I drew Germany’s Olaf Scholz with a drooping gun barrel.
Boris Johnson continued to be the gift that keeps on giving to cartoonists, and as he was found guilty yet again of more shenanigans in Downing Street, Banksy was in the news, so I drew him being shredded. (Some in his old party think he is still a valuable asset though.)
A-level results are an annual treat for cartoonists — there’s always a chance to riff on some politician underachieving. This year though, as the PM gets an F, the Opposition leader can hardly celebrate being not-quite-as-awful as him.
Speaking of whom, Sir Keir Starmer was ambushed by a protester at the Labour conference, who managed to get on stage and scatter glitter all over him. Sir Keir had been stealing a lot of Conservative clothes in the speech, so I drew him sprinkling himself proudly with Tory blue glitter.
The Tories meanwhile had their own problems. Having apparently sensed a shift in mood in the political wind, Rishi Sunak started rowing back on his green policies. No Just Stop Oil for him; in the North Sea he’s protesting Just Start Oil.
Meanwhile, the self-inflicted thorn in the side of the Government — immigration — continued to dominate the headlines. The great designer Jamie Reid had died, so I used his most iconic image, the Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen single cover, to have a go at the then-home secretary Suella Braverman. God Help Us All, I said, from her draconian policies.
Back to international news, and US president Joe Biden visited Israel. Cartoonists very often reach for visual metaphors. On this occasion, I drew Biden coming down the Air Force One steps, only to see ahead the steps continuing down and down into a bomb crater in the tarmac. No words were needed on that cartoon.
David Low was the Standard’s most famous cartoonist, from 1927 to 1950. And his most famous cartoon was probably Rendezvous. In it, Hitler and Stalin meet, all civility, doffing their hats. Hitler says: “The Scum of the Earth, I believe”, to which Stalin replies: “The bloody assassin of the workers, I presume”. I updated the image with two present-day monsters, Putin and Kim Jong-un.
To round up the year, on a lighter note, David Cameron returned to his old party after seven years. As the perennial TV show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! aired, I drew the now Lord Cameron entering his own political jungle, writhing with nasty creepy crawlies: the Tory party.
Well, that was how I saw 2023.
I’ll relax now, as surely 2024 can’t be more insane. Can it?
