Suella Braverman was guest of honour at the Ellwood Atfield Political Cartoon of the Year Awards last night, but the assembled scribblers were not in the honouring mood. She took the stage to panto boos and said “the heckling has started already”.“Boy have you painted me horrifically,” she complained in her first speech since leaving government, “they say politics is showbusiness for ugly people and judging by your cartoons of me that is definitely true.” “It’s called realism,” shouted one wag. “Ah, there we go,” she sighed. Braverman wondered if one particularly disturbing depiction of her as the girl from The Exorcist was a compliment. “It wasn’t,” quipped a freelance cartoonist for The Guardian. “Would you like to come up?,” Braverman asked, glowering into the crowd, “you’ve got so much to say! Come on, come on then.” The cartoonist, Rebecca Hendin, mounted the stage before host Gavin Ellwood intervened, asking them to save the boxing match for later.Braverman carried on with awards, handing a large wooden spoon to runner up Steve Bell, who was sacked from The Guardian this year after four decades when he drew an image some thought anti-Semitic.
