Seeing as this will be my last column of 2015 I thought I might look back and hand out a few end of year awards and brickbats. Anyone who says politics is boring only needs to look back at the events of 2015 and look forward to next year. What a fascinating time to be commenting on current affairs. Next year we have so much to look forward to – a probable EU referendum, the London mayoral election, the onward march of the SNP, more fun and frolics in the Labour Party, Tory leadership hopefuls stepping up the battle, and lots more besides. Anyway, here we go…

Politician of the Year – Nicola Sturgeon
Cabinet Minister of the Year – Amber Rudd
Junior Minister of the Year – Tracey Crouch
New MP to Watch – Jess Phillips
Speech of the Year – Hilary Benn in the Syria debate
The ‘Why, Oh Why Did I do That?’ Award – Margaret Beckett, Sadiq Khan and Frank Field for nominating Jeremy Corbyn to be Labour leader
Moment of the Year – Seeing the exit poll result flash up on my screen on election night
Political Achievement of the Year – Jeremy Corbyn winning the Labour leadership
Political Journalist of the Year – James Lyons, Sunday Times
Most Unlikely Political Appointment of the Year – John McDonnell as Shadow Chancellor, closely followed by Ken Livingstone to co-chair Labour’s defence policy review
Minister Most Unlikely to Go Off-Message – Priti Patel
Treacherous Bastard of the Year Award – Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
The Missing You Already Award – Ed Balls
Satirist of the Year – Matt Telford who played ‘Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho’
Best Response in a Crisis Award – President Hollande
Campaigner of the Year – Lynton Crosby
The ‘Kick it into the Long Grass Award’ – Patrick McLoughlin for not deciding on a new runway
Losers of the Year – Pollsters. All of them.
Scoop of the Year – James Landale’s interview with the Prime Minister when he announced he’d quit after two terms
Gaffe of the Year – The ‘Ed Stone’
Political Prat of the Year – Donald Trump
Political Book of the Year – Project Fear by Joe Pike
Confrontation of the Year – Jess Phillips telling Diane Abbott to ‘fuck off’.
Interview of the Year – Natalie Bennett’s ‘brain fade’ with Nick Ferrari
The ‘WTF’ Moment of the Year – Michael Ashcroft & Isabel Oakeshott for, well, you know what

I don’t envy David Cameron in his task at the EU Summit. I had thought the so-called demands in his letter to Donald Tusk were a put up job, and that everything had been agreed in advance. The four demands were so weak, I assumed the EU leaders had decided they would allow David Cameron to claim a victory. I was wrong. As I write this, it looks as if the PM will return more or less empty handed, with everything being postponed until February. Cameron’s problem is that no one can really imagine him delivering on his threat to support a ‘No’ vote in a referendum if he doesn’t get his way on the renegotiation. Most EU negotiations involve games of bluff and double bluff. My fear is that the EU has already called David Cameron’s bluff, and his wargaming has been insufficiently robust. I hope I am wrong.
*
So far this year I’ve had five Christmas cards with totally illegible signatures – three of them from MPs. I mean, what’s the point? Yesterday I received a lovely case containing three bottles of vintage wine. I have no clue who it’s from. No note. So someone out there is going to think me very rude for not thanking them. Christmas, eh?
*