Newcomer of the Year (J)

WINNER Justin Webb, BBC

The international political highlight of the last year was undoubtedly the US presidential election. As the world waited to see who would become America’s next leader, Justin Webb became a familiar voice. As the BBC’s North America editor for several years, Webb was already a well-known name for listeners of the Today Programme.

From Hillary Clinton’s tears during the primaries to Joe the Plumber turning up the heat on Barack Obama; from the new puppy in the White House to President Obama’s handling of the economy, Justin Webb provided insightful and in-depth coverage. He also helped open up the workings of the White House to readers of his blog.

To top off a huge year for Webb, the BBC announced in December that he will be replacing Ed Stourton as a presenter on the Today Programme in October. Listeners will be waiting to see if Webb’s experience of ‘Obamania’ has gone any way to preparing him for a studio confrontation with a particularly grumpy government minister before breakfast!

Quentin Letts, Daily Mail

The Mail’s prolific sketchwriter has enjoyed another stellar 12 months – and, of particular interest to the public affairs world, made several appearances at the back of the committee rooms during the public administration select committee (PASC) inquiry into lobbying.

Letts’ subsequent copy made for predictably amusing – and largely painful – reading for many of those involved in the inquiry, with his apparent attitude to the industry captured in this headline from June 2008: ‘This lobbying stinks like a decapitated, ageing trout.’

In his report from the inquiry’s eighth and final session, for example, Letts went to town on key players in the drama, describing PASC member Charles Walker MP as “an angular little man with a reedy, irritating voice”, and accusing the backbench Tory MP of “supporting continued secrecy about lobbyists’ activities”; while Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson MP (a PAN columnist) – who appeared before the committee in the final session – was described as having “sausage fingers”. Letts concluded his sketch with the following – relatively benign – sign-off: “Subjecting lobbyists to public gaze can surely only improve our body politic and reduce corruption.”

‘Coverage’ of lobbyists aside, Letts’ relentlessly colourful sketches perfectly capture how political personalities cope when under parliamentary or media scrutiny. No PA professional would relish their client being the subject of even a sentence of Letts’s prose.

Letts has also recently found the time to write the book, ‘50 People Who Buggered Up Britain’ – an anthology of amusing and acerbic portraits of those who, he argues, have made a less-than-glittering contribution to our national life.

Fraser Nelson, The Spectator

Marketed as ‘your insider in the corridors of power’ by the News of the World, in which he fills a page each Sunday with informed comment and tasty morsels of Westminster gossip, Fraser Nelson is the Spectator’s political editor.

Since taking over from Peter Oborne at the Speccy in 2006, the Scot’s profile and reputation has grown in the Westminster Village and he is a regular talking-head in the media.

His commentary on lobbying is – inevitably – infrequent but campaigns with a celebrity element catch his eye when he’s wearing his NoTW hat.

For example, in a piece headed ‘Stars in their sides’ on 10 April, Nelson wrote about Joanna Lumley’s campaigning for the Gurkhas. With a suggestion that would make some public affairs professionals wince, he suggested: ‘Forget lobbyists. If you have a cause, just match the right celebrity to the mission.’

A supporter of the Conservative Party, Nelson is most at home delivering sharp commentary about MPs.

In February, again in the NoTW, he colourfully wrote: “Every time I see George Osborne, his face looks whiter. And not just because he’s been staying away from the Corfu yachts. Our Shadow Chancellor is steadily realising that he’s set for what could be the worst job in postwar political history.”

Nelson has his finger on the pulse and – as a Tory victory at the next election looks ever more likely – his influence can only grow.