Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
From news stories
as I illustrated in one of my Gazette cartoons.
I drew Rosie Duffield several times during the campaign. Turns out she’s a lot harder to draw than her opponent, but that may be because I drew him as a masked “Darth Brazier” to her “Princess Rosie”.
The new Canterbury MP made an appearance at this year’s Herne Bay Cartoon Festival, where she interviewed the Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson. She mentioned how, as a newcomer to the political scene, she loved being in my cartoons, which meant that my reputation among my fellow cartoonists was instantly trashed. Politicians are not supposed to like their caricatures, for goodness’ sake.
Many of the usual concerns reared their heads in my cartoons this year, and they’re political, if not party political: rubbish rail franchises; lengthy A&E waiting times; constantly redefined alcohol limits; and health and safety officials who like to ban paddling pools, to name a few.
But there was also cause for celebration and the Kentish Gazette did just that, marking 300 years in print. I attempted to channel the spirit of the 18th century cartoonist James Gillray in a cartoon to mark the occasion.
So before 2018 arrives, and we prepare to find out what “Brexit means Brexit” actually means (possibly), I’ll bid you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
You can follow Royston on Twitter at @roystoncartoons and see his work at roystoncartoons.com.