Matt Pritchett

The last 12 months have been one of the busiest - and most challenging - news periods we have witnessed with the events in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza.

It has, therefore, been a time when many of us have valued more than ever the chance to laugh, to smile, and to remember that life goes on. No one helps us do that better than the pocket cartoonist Matt. His cartoons bring joy to millions of Telegraph readers - and their friends - online and in the paper.

He is so consistently brilliant, the hardest part of the Telegraph editor’s day is choosing which Matt cartoon of several he has drawn to publish! Some cartoonists might struggle to produce a classic once a year. Matt does it repeatedly every day.

The choice of three cartoons for these awards wasn't easy for this reason. But we have chosen these three because they show the variety of subjects he covers- each one hilarious, each one original, each one perfectly drawn.

One is about the closure of 100 schools over safety fears, another is about sewage dumped on our beaches, and the third about inflation and the cost of dairy food soaring.

Absurd, delightful and warm-hearted, Matt has an unrivalled ability to skewer pomposity in the gentlest of ways. His cartoons are often read out on the Today programme for that reason.

It doesn't matter what your politics is, where you live, who you are: Matt's pocket cartoons relate to everyone, and make everyone smile,