By Abigail Sater

The results of the Orwell Prize were released last night so we decided to investigate the blogger shortlist. The winner of the night was Winston Smith who blogs about his experiences “working with the underclass”. He won £3,000 and a plaque bearing Orwell’s ambition: ‘what I have most wanted to do... is to make political writing into an art.’ Here are extracts from the shortlists blogs:

Hopi Sen, Hopi Sen

“I loathe and despise small talk in ways I cannot describe. I love conversations, speeches, rants, arguments and drunken strops. But chat I abhor. Having heard the results, I had nothing to do but chat. So I wrote this instead.”

Jack of Kent, Jack of Kent “By background I am a tribal Tory, from generations of Birmingham working class Tories and Tory-Unionists dating back to when the various Chamberlains proudly sat as Birmingham MPs. And so of course it pains me that I cannot follow my tribal instinct.”

Laurie Penny, Penny Red and others

“This is why the role of women in politics will never be just a numbers game, shocking though it is that the (coalition) are over four-fifths male. Merely putting female bodies and gorgeous shoes in places of liminal power will never automatically equate to empowering women and minorities within or beyond Westminster.”

Madam Miaow, Madam Miaow Says“Millions of BBC license-payers were disappointed as the D-list celebrity-laden BBC election speshul boat, "SOS UK PLC", failed to sink in the early hours of Friday morning. "They couldn't even get that right", said Ms A Chen from North London.”

Tim Marshall, Foreign Matters

“A lot of the post UK election coverage suggests that the shotgun wedding between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats cannot result in a long term relationship due to the profound differences between them. There may be domestic issues which will end in divorce but on the international front they should be able to stay together.”

The Winner: Winston Smith, Working with the Underclass

“There is a thin line between the cathartic relief this blog provides me with and the negative reinforcement of seamlessly dysfunctional lives and the ludicrously insane policies and initiatives that purport to act as a solution. In short, writing about these issues and recalling certain experiences frustrates me as much as it acts as a release valve.”