| WINTER 2007 |
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Studio Rant My short life as a political cartoonist by Simon Stern  One day out of the blue I got a call from the Times Saturday Review, asking how I would feel about doing a weekly colour cartoon for the magazine? It wasn't an offer I was about to refuse, so after gaining admission to the Times Newspaper's armed encampment in Wapping, I found my way through a series of shabby looking buildings to the Saturday Review offices. Because the magazine went to press five days in advance, the cartoon had to be delivered on Monday for publication the following Saturday. This was a problem. I lived in fear of key political figures coming to a sticky end between Monday and Saturday, making it impossible to react to the day's events. I would look anxiously for events I could rely on a week ahead. One such was Father's Day. Robert Maxwell had recently drowned, leaving a horrendous mess behind him at Mirror Group, and his sons were standing trial for being implicated in their father's alleged wrongdoing. Gratefully I seized on the event and drew the trial in progress with a Father's Day card featuring 'Cap'n Bob' with the legend 'Wish you were here!' Another problem for me was the bottomless cynicism of the newspaper world. My first submission was about the increase in beggars on the streets since Margaret Thatcher came to power. I found this horrifying but I was firmly told that the subject was old hat, had been done before, and to think again. Being a political cartoonist also required a total immersion in politics, as well as a cold, cynical eye. When many of my friends were lamenting the fact that New Labour had turned out to be New Tory, I found it hard to share their disappointment. To me it had been all too predictable at the outset. Before the '97 general election, at a time when bishops were being outed by a gay organisation called 'Outrage', I had drawn Tony Blair dressed as Margaret Thatcher with John Prescott bursting in crying 'It's from OUTRAGE!' In the end the stress and the endless diet of politics got too much, so I resigned. I've never regretted it. The luxury of not having to read all the papers every day is a truly precious thing. Simon Stern is an illustrator and is a member of DACS' Board of Directors.  back
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