MATT Cartoons and our 2020 Launch

How does he do it? Daily Telegraph cartoonist MATT gave us some insight into the challenge of producing a new political cartoon every day at our launch party for our 2020 Tours. And we got a sneak preview of the following day’s cartoon (you can see the printed version in the below photo).

MATT is instantly recognizable by most Brits; his cartoons are known for their pithy wit and simplicity. There’s a Brexit dog chasing its tail — it’s a cross between a remainer and a leaver, a man juggling for immigration officials — it seems we are to have new points based immigration system, and frequently, as above, a couple of blokes just having a chat down at the pub; “I remember when a pint cost a quid, a haircut cost a fiver, and you could get ten DUP votes for £1 Billion.” You need to see them to do them justice. They’re hilarious and often have me in tears.

On Thursday he explained he doesn’t do just one for the paper each day, but five or six! He then presents them to the news editors and they decide which one goes into the paper. It seems like a nerve-racking task having to come up with something funny everyday. The inspriation for them, he says, comes on the walk to the coffee machine!

Peter Brookes also joined us later in the evening — hotfooted from the The Times newsroom — and we were surrounded by both his and MATT’s cartoons all thanks to Chris Beetles who represents both cartoonists and kindly lent us his gallery space in Ryder Street, St James’s, for the evening.

Political tours experts Claire Boobbyer (Cuba), Christopher de Bellaigue (Iran — where we no longer go unfortunately), David Torrance (the UK & Brexit, Scotland and Independence) were all there as well as a strange guest in a blue jumper, who on closer inspection turned out to be Jeffrey Archer! (Chris Beetles recently displayed his private collection of political cartoons). It was a great evening.

Our next major gathering will be our Experts Weekend at Cowdray Park (6–8 March), famed for its royal polo tournament, but also home to a stately home that we will be taking for the weekend. Our guest speakers there include Tobias Jones who will be leading our Italy tour next year which looks at the impact of organised crime on Italian politics, and the leading Republican party strategist and former RNC co-chair, Bob Paduchik.

Just email us for details about this or any of our tours, or for a tailor-made tour at info@politicaltours.com