Where are you from?

I was born in Glasgow and live in Gateshead.

What prompted you to draw cartoons?

I just had a growing sense of frustration and anger with politicians. I began to realise that those in charge have nothing but contempt for the British people.

I started drawing cartoons as a bit of a relief. I’d come home from work, draw a cartoon about what annoyed me the most during the day, then I’d move on and forget about it all.

Have you any formal training in visual arts?

I was self-taught until I did a Masters in Contemporary Art and Education at Northumbria University. That’s where I started experimenting with political cartoons.

Which part of the process of drawing is the most difficult?

Adding colour. The vast bulk of my illustration work is black and white. I started adding really crude and garish colour to the cartoons as a way of showing further disrespect.

How do you “get” the likeness right in a caricature?

I used to be really awful at it. I really had to learn caricature before I could draw cartoons that I could show anyone.

Once you learn what to look for in someone's face, then everyone looks hilarious.

What annoys you most in public figures and do you see the ridiculing of them as a civic duty?

Mostly it’s the self-assured self-importance of these people who blithely see us all as idiots who will swallow whatever shit they throw at us.

I'm not sure its anyone’s duty to ridicule anyone — that’s just my pleasure — but everyone owes it to themselves not to blindly revere public figures, who have hidden agendas that require your compliance.

How important are cartoons as “comic relief?”

Absolutely. Just seeing someone else illustrate an absurdity which you sensed yourself is extremely important. It gives you a connection with other like-minded people in a way that the written word can't.

What response do you seek from your satire?

I bet most Morning Star readers have had these thoughts before I draw them as cartoons. I reckon most of them react by thinking: “Aye, bastards, all.”

Cartoonists are said to be gloomy. Are you?

I’m probably typically misanthropic but at least I can laugh about it all.