Thread by @shaunjlawson

Roll up, roll up, it's Shaun's End of Year Awards time!

First, thanks to each and every one of you for keeping me (cyber)company over the last year. You are all AMAZING. 🙏

In 2022, I'll keep pissing you off and you'll keep putting me right. The natural order of things. 😳

There's a lot of new followers I've only (cyber)met this year. I've learnt an awful lot from all of you... and I still have a huge amount to learn too.

It says something for all of you that I've been so brutally honest about myself over the last week or so.

I'd never have done that on here if I didn't feel comfortable enough to do so.

But for once, this thread isn't about me. Let's crack on with the awards:

Best journalist: @MarinaHyde, by a very long way. A national treasure, force of nature and an absolute genius.

Runner-up: Marina's partner in (exposing) crime. The magnificent @JohnJCrace

Best Twitter feed: @janeclarejones. God, she's brilliant. I wish she had the vastly wider audience she deserves.

Best politician (US): @AOC. Who still gives me so much hope for the future.

And yep, I know many of my followers don't exactly see eye-to-eye with her on one issue in particular. But hey ho. What she represents more broadly is the kind of world I desperately want to see.

Best politician (UK): @joannaccherry. A hero, a titan, a living legend. Her strength through the deplorable abuse she's faced has been absolutely extraordinary.

Most missed politician for the future: Angela Merkel. Decency. Integrity. Strength. Compassion. Moral authority.

Best politician (world): Not quite Jacinda Ardern this year - though she's still superb. I'll vote for @MarinSanna, Finnish Prime Minister: one night out clubbing excepted.

Best political activist: jointly awarded to @GretaThunberg and @MForstater. I hope the latter doesn't object to me calling her an activist; I know she's a researcher too.

But the case she won turned the tide. It really did. I think it'll go down in history ultimately.

Politician to watch over the next year: @trussliz.

Polling last week showed how wildly unpopular she is with the British public. But that might be a name recognition thing as much as anything. This time next year, the Tories will probably have a new leader. It might well be her

Book of the Year: Trans, by @HJoyceGender.

You know when I first really noticed the ongoing war on here over women's and trans rights? When I saw Helen being demonised over her forthcoming book.

But it's also helped turn the tide, and I highly recommend it. She's a warrior.

Favourite follower: @BettySea_. I think she's brilliant! And utterly hilarious very regularly too. In common with many I've mentioned so far, she takes no nonsense from anyone, and I really admire that.

Twitter Man of the Year: jointly awarded to @DuncanHenry78 and @Jebadoo2.

Duncan is calm. Dennis is emotional. Together, they make an absolutely brilliant team of male allies (though I know they don't intend it like that!)

Most loyal follower: @gpdon. He's stuck with me through many trials and tribulations on here. As others have come and gone, he's always been there.

His support and advice is quite MASSIVELY appreciated; he's a top, top bloke.

Runner-up: @WilliamHayesWo1. It's amazing how often we're thinking the exact same thing about pretty much any issue! We followed identical paths over Starmer too: pragmatic support and hope followed by benefit of the doubt followed by increasingly deep disillusion and then fury.

Best Twitter pal (but this one's cos we're longstanding pals in real life too): @serialsockthief.

I promise you: you will not meet a better human being on the face of this Earth. She is the absolute epitome of success and I swear, she's never wrong about anything. Really!

Favourite Uruguayan follower: @BarefootLady. Even though she's stuck in the UK now I think? This quite wonderful mix of politically tribal but at the same time, never taking anything too seriously: least of all this madhouse!

Thread of the Year: Inspirational and awe-inspiring by @FemmeLoves. Another of the heroes of 2021.

FAO He Who Must Not Be Named: you picked a fight with the wrong woman. Ceri is WAY out of your league. And you're going to face the consequences.

https://twitter.com/FemmeLoves/status/1465687391138582528

Most peaceful followers (by which, I mean they have this online aura about them which is so special): @ItsMe50474936, @_CiaraKeegan and @hrh_nic.

They're just all such lovely people... and Nicola's patience with me is otherworldly. When I'm next in the UK, I hope to visit her.

Most patient follower (even more than Nicola!): @Grraarrgh.

We disagree on plenty of things, nothing more so than US politics. I throw a temper tantrum at and patronise him. He just thinks "oh, he's off on one again" and takes it in his stride! I'm a bit in awe of that.

Tweeter of the Year: jointly awarded either side of the Atlantic to @JoJoFromJerz and @MarinaPurkiss.

They're both online phenomena. They are both absolutely MAGNIFICENT at what they do. I hope to goodness that the Democrats and Labour employ both in communications roles.

And if they'll forgive me, I also hope - assuming they've not done already - that they meet someday.

It's uncanny: they're like two peas of the same acerbic, brilliant, hilarious, outstandingly knowledgeable, always on point but always graceful and supremely dignified pod.

Person of the Year: This one's a bit complicated.

TIME make their award to the person who, in their view, has had the biggest impact on the world... positive *or* negative.

Therefore, I'm going to make a negative impact award AND a positive impact award. Negative first.

Person of the Year (negative): jointly awarded to @SenatorSinema and @Sen_JoeManchin.

Blockheads who've destroyed Biden's agenda, have imperilled their entire country's democracy, and wrecked the chances of radical climate action too.

All because of corporate donors.

The cynicism of both is breathtaking. As is their corruption and their narcissism.

They watched their country get taken right to the edge of the fascist cliff. They watched as people were murdered inside the Capitol. And their answer? Full steam ahead: Fourth Reich ahoy!

Shame

Person of the Year (positive): also jointly awarded. First, to Officer Eugene Goodman - who helped save his country on a fate not even worth thinking about.

His courage, as he faced down those lunatics BY HIMSELF, was superhuman. Not just an American hero, but a world hero.

Thankyou for your service, Sir!

And second: it's the woman who the cowardly, snivelling lickspittles at the pathetic Guardian actually CENSORED out of winning its own award. Despite what very obviously, was a landslide victory.

Enough of this injustice. Step forward and take a bow, @jk_rowling! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

You may have noticed how much this list has been dominated by women. That's exactly as it should be. So many strong, brave, amazing women standing up for their rights, their spaces, their dignity.

And they've been led and inspired by an absolute titan. #IStandWithJKRowling

And one final one. Which I must give out because for me, 2021 has been my first year spent with pigeons!

Award for fellow pigeon whisperers: @Alexcl1690 and @Lanaqu28.

Anyone who loves pigeons is a friend of mine. 🙏

I will, of course, be boring you all rigid with more tales from Pigeon Street (a show which featured the first feminist who 4-year-old me was ever aware of: the legendary Long Distance Clara!) throughout the next year.

And even more so on everything else too. 😳😳😳

Even though there's still over 13 hours to go where I am, over 10 hours to go where you are, Happy New Year everyone!

Thankyou for everything - and here's hoping the whole world finally moves back into the light in 2022. 🙏

(And that England win the World Cup as well). 🏆