i Editor's Letter: Winners of i Cartoon Idol contest

I hope that we can all agree on a couple of things, in the cold light of the Monday morning after.

The first is that (as per this column on Friday) seeing all the Euro leaders on Friday morning wearing the same formal business attire as they had sported the night before brought a whole new meaning to the “walk of shame”.

And next? We all need a laugh, and we will need it for a long time to come. That clumsy link is my way of introducing the long-awaited winners of our recent i Cartoon Idol contest. I know I promised to announce this a few weeks ago, but the best-laid plans and all that.

Apologies for the delay, but I am happy to announce that we have chosen two cartoonists from the 250-plus entries of a dazzlingly high standard. At least the whole thing hasn’t dragged on half as long as this year’s The X Factor appears to have. Our congratulations to both Rob Murray and Ben Jennings, who polled extremely well among you i readers, and also impressed our judges here at the office, with The Independent’s art director, Dan Barber, as Simon Cowell.

Neither Rob nor Ben are total beginners. Rob’s work has been seen in Private Eye among other places, and Ben, has “subbed” for Steve Bell at The Guardian in the past. Rob’s schtick is a quirky view of everyday life, while Ben is a lot more “ edgy”. Ben began selling his work aged 15, and was recently the “2011 political cartoon of the year” winner.

We’ll introduce them properly in the New Year when they start appearing, but well done to the pair of them and a big thank you to all who entered and voted. It’s rewarding to see how much you care about seeing cartoons in i. Happy Monday.