It’s not often that a journalist is given the title of ‘hero’. We as a people have often all been tarnished with the descriptions of villains and, when you look at some of the historic events that have led to such presumptions being made, it’s easy to understand why.
So, when someone stands up and ensures the spotlight is firmly focused on the wrongdoings of those in positions of power, we have to celebrate that.
Our Hero of the Year is the Daily Mirror Political Editor, Pippa Crerar.
Over the past few weeks, Pippa has delivered bombshell after bombshell, exposing Christmas parties (or were they simply business meetings with an abundance of cheese and wine?) that took place in the height of lockdown at the end of 2020 and, moving into 2021.
Video footage showed Tory staff laughing as they joked about said 'party', with Allegra Stratton quickly quitting her role as government spokesperson.
Whilst the country did their all to ensure that restrictions were followed, including not seeing their loved ones in-person even if they were coming to the end of their lives, the Prime Minister and the Conservative government were sipping from wine glasses both indoors and in the gardens of Number 10 Downing Street.
They saw the public reaction to Dominic Cummings, when he took a trip to Barnard Castle to ‘test his eyesight’ and still, they ploughed on with utter disregard for the consequences. They put themselves above the rules they set out for the rest of us, firmly establishing the gap between the political elite and the voting masses.
The job of our political press should always be to hold those who are elected to power, to account. Pippa more than anybody throughout 2021 - including Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer - has done that.
With another couple of weeks to go before we wave goodbye to 2021 for good, we imagine there could be another story or two up her sleeve before the year is out. We’re perched and have got those Twitter notifications switched on!
Congratulations, Pippa. Thank you for proving once again, that not all journalists are ‘bad’.
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