The Shortlist

'I am Alix Mortimer, head of state in the People’s Republic of Mortimer, where everything is perfect. I am twenty-eight but I am not entirely sure how that happened, as I was only twenty-two a few minutes ago. Oh bother, I’m twenty-nine now. You see? See how fast it goes? Whizzzzzzzzz!

'I live in the faraway magical land of Muswell Hill, North London, where I read, write, talk, drink, gig and try to quit smoking. I am from Surrey originally but please don’t hold it against me. I have dark hair (lots of it) and dark eyes but despite this I never, ever tan. I walk everywhere very, very fast. My nose is not to be sniffed at. My left elbow is double-jointed and can empty a pub bar in under ten seconds.'

• The People's Republic Of Mortimer Blog
• Longlisted Blogpost Lebensraum und Schadenfreude
• Longlisted Blogpost Snow and taxes
• Longlisted Blogpost I am in full agreement with you, Archbishop…
• Longlisted Blogpost Henry VIII was more of a statist control-freak than NuLabour. Discuss.
• Longlisted Blogpost Food crisis? What food crisis?
• Longlisted Blogpost Stop the gentrification, I want to get off!
• Longlisted Blogpost Terribly Boring III: Bumper edition
• Longlisted Blogpost Bring me the Head of Communications
• Longlisted Blogpost Tax before marriage
• Longlisted Blogpost Baby P might have become a “feral, parasitic yob”

Andrew Sparrow is the senior political correspondent on the Guardian website. He trained as a journalist on the South Wales Echo. Since joining the parliamentary lobby in 1994, he has worked as a political correspondent for Thomson Regional Newspapers, the Western Mail, the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph. He has also written a book - Obscure Scribblers: A History of Parliamentary Journalism

• Politics Blog Blog
• Longlisted Blogpost Live from Crewe and Nantwich
• Longlisted Blogpost Byelection: Live from Crewe and Nantwich
• Longlisted Blogpost What's the point of prime minister's questions?
• Longlisted Blogpost Gordon Brown: 10 strategies he could use to survive
• Longlisted Blogpost Gordon Brown's speech - live
• Longlisted Blogpost David Cameron's speech - LIVE
• Longlisted Blogpost Gordon Brown's reshuffle - LIVE
• Longlisted Blogpost Glenrothes byelection blog
• Longlisted Blogpost Glenrothes byelection blog - Live
• Longlisted Blogpost MPs debate Damian Green raid - live

An unapologetic grab-bag of everything. With a liberal unionist flavour.

• Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness Blog
• Longlisted Blogpost Adams, intolerance and the principle of consent
• Longlisted Blogpost Weekend's events graphically illustrate two very different approaches to identity 
• Longlisted Blogpost Ross and Brand - proof that Britain loves outrage
• Longlisted Blogpost Tory deal offers no insurmountable problems
• Longlisted Blogpost Unionism can help depoliticise Irish, to its benefit and to ours.
• Longlisted Blogpost The gloves come off: Chekov vs. Mouse (Part III)
• Longlisted Blogpost Russia, censorship and Jonathan Dimbleby
• Longlisted Blogpost Boring for Russia. A long post about Orthodoxy, Communism, Moscow and my holiday
• Longlisted Blogpost Kvas and other Russian peculiarities
• Longlisted Blogpost Was Conrad as antithetical to Dostoevsky as he supposed?

'Iain Dale is one of Britain's leading political commentators, appearing regularly on TV and radio. He writes a fortnightly political column for the Daily Telegraph and a fortnightly diary for the Eastern Daily Press. He was the chief anchor of Britain's first political internet TV channel, 18 Doughty Street.com and is now the publisher of the monthly magazine, Total Politics. He is the author or editor of nearly thirty books.

'Iain stood as a Conservative candidate at the last election and was Chief of Staff to the Rt Hon David Davis MP in the recent Conservative Party leadership election. He is a former political lobbyist, financial journalist and publisher and was the founder of Politico's Bookstore. He is the creator and host of the theatre production A Night With Ann Widdecombe, which tours provincial theatres all round the country. He is Director of the Conservative History Group and co-director of the Campaign for Fixed Term Parliaments. Iain is also a vocal proponent of an English Parliament.'

• Iain Dale's Diary Blog
• Longlisted Blogpost Four Ministers Face Police Interviews: What Does It Say About Politics?
• Longlisted Blogpost Sham Consultations Fuel Voter Disconnect
• Longlisted Blogpost Prescott's Bulimia: A Story of Pressure Cooker Politics
• Longlisted Blogpost The Decline and Fall of the Political Memoir
• Longlisted Blogpost David Davis's Walk Into the Unknown
• Longlisted Blogpost Boris and His Absent Backbone
• Longlisted Blogpost The 'Any Questions' Experience
• Longlisted Blogpost Sex Education: No Irresponsible Headline Here...
• Longlisted Blogpost Why Conservatives Should Man the Barricades for Osborne
• Longlisted Blogpost Tories Must Realise: Brown is Out to Destroy Them

An English Detective.

• Night Jack Blog
• Longlisted Blogpost Darkness At The Edge of Town
• Longlisted Blogpost Only 24 Hours To Crack The Case (Part 10)
• Longlisted Blogpost Living On The Ceiling
• Longlisted Blogpost From Truncheons To Tasers
• Longlisted Blogpost The Face Behind The Face
• Longlisted Blogpost The Evil Poor
• Longlisted Blogpost Gone in a blur
• Longlisted Blogpost The Weight
• Longlisted Blogpost What Is A Prison For?
• Longlisted Blogpost Notes From The Glue Factory

'"We live in a time when political passions run high, channels of free expression are dwindling, and organised lying exists on a scale never before known. For plugging the holes in history the pamphlet is the ideal form." - so wrote George Orwell in 1943. Fortunately today we have blogs: channels of free expression are running riot and "organised lying" - whether by spin-doctors, dictators or the PR industry - is on the back foot.

'I was one of the first bloggers on the BBC. On and off I've been shooting from the lip here since July 2005 - as far as the BBC editorial rules will let me.

'Since I've become the economics editor of Newsnight I've noticed that, except with investment bankers and aid charity bosses, the job title tends to freeze any room I walk into. "Poor you," one receptionist said to me, "having to try and interest people in all that boring stuff".'

• Idle Scrawl Blog
• Longlisted Blogpost Fannie Mae: The credit crunch meets the F-word
• Longlisted Blogpost Bank balance sheets become focus of scrutiny
• Longlisted Blogpost China Week: Yellow Earth and the girls in the hotel bar...
• Longlisted Blogpost Hold on, how did this become the "pipeline war"?
• Longlisted Blogpost Crisis, yes crisis - Blanchflower calls for big rate cut
• Longlisted Blogpost The working class election (but not here!)
• Longlisted Blogpost American Journey: I finally get to see Motown
• Longlisted Blogpost Lehman, AIG, Merrill: Is this December 1930?
• Longlisted Blogpost Day Four. Policymakers stare into the abyss
• Longlisted Blogpost Pretty big steps. Does the real Minsky Moment lie ahead?