London mayor hires cartoonist

Ken Livinstone looks forward to the cartoons

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has appointed a Cartoonist Laureate to "capture all the bizarre and surreal goings-on in London government".

Mr Livingstone has hired Martin Rowson, a freelance cartoonist who has worked for The Guardian, Tribune and Time Out, and he will be paid one pint of London Pride a year for his services.

Mr Rowson, named political cartoonist of the year, said: "I imagine it to be a situation as in Roman times when a slave had to follow his master around."

He added: "I will probably be ignored for months."

The last thing that politicians can afford to do is admit they do not have a sense of humour.

Martin Rowson

The cartoonist's first official task will be to cover the Mayor's Question Time on 4 April.

More spontaneous

He next duties will be more spontaneous, coming, he said, by "simply just hoofing it".

He said: "It depends on how much goodwill they can extract from one pint of London Pride.

"The last thing that politicians in this country can afford to do if they want to get re-elected is to admit they do not have a sense of humour. I think they will be ready for a satirical commentary."

Mr Livingstone said he was delighted to appoint Mr Rowson.

"I am particularly looking forward to his cartoons of Mayor's Question Time," he said.

Mr Rowson said satirical cartoons were a "very important part of the political process and of journalism".

He added: "I am glad there is a politician somewhere who is willing to allow a cartoonist inside the loop, however dangerous that could be."

Mr Rowson has been a cartoonist since leaving university in 1982 and has done illustrations for books, including Will Self's The Sweet Smell of Psychosis, and written his own graphic novel, The Wasteland.