Howard’s way

Thanks to Howard McWilliam for the illustration of Keir Starmer below.

This is the third time we have commissioned an exclusive drawing from one of the best illustrators in Britain. The first time was in 2016 when we needed something to help promote our Axe The Tobacco Tax Escalator campaign.

We had been looking for an artist who could draw a recognisable likeness rather than an extreme caricature, and I had noticed Howard’s work because at that time he was often responsible for the illustrations that appeared on the cover of The Week.

George Osborne was Chancellor when we commissioned our first two illustrations. One featured Osborne at his desk surrounded by cigarette packs and piles of cash. (See George, don't do that.)

For the other he wore an Arthur Daley style raincoat and was standing in a dark and rather seedy alleyway, as if he was an illicit trader.

Last year, in response to Rishi Sunak's plans for a generational ban on the sale of tobacco, we commissioned Howard to produce an illustration of the then prime minister pushing a pram while dressed as a nanny, and in the pram was a bearded man wearing baby clothes.

That was the illustration that led to the seizure of a banner we tried to take on to the parliamentary estate for a reception at the House of Commons. According to security staff it was “offensive”. (Guido Fawkes has the story here.)

After the election, with Labour in power and Sunak no longer in Number 10 (but with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill still a priority for the new government), we asked Howard to redraw it with Sir Kier replacing the former PM.

I should add that Howard is in great demand so a further illustration, featuring Secretary of State for Health Wes Streeting, will have to wait.

In the meantime, if you want to see more of Howard’s work ‘for magazines, newspapers, children's books, packaging and character design’, click here.

See also: Nanny Starmer reimagined by AI. I think you will agree that Howard’s illustration is a hundred times better than that conjured up by artificial intelligence!