The Independent’s best cartoons from 2020

Cartoons have long been a fundamental part of The Independent’s voice since its founding in 1986 and have commented, satirised and creatively documented notable events over the years.

2020 has certainly been a momentous one; a year of social unrest, an existential international health crisis, political upheaval and frankly overwhelming world events.

We take a look back at the work of Independent cartoonist Brian Adcock and his satirical commentary on a turbulent 2020.

A picture can speak a thousand words and the daily cartoon is a piquant and approachable look at significant events through the year. Adcock says that his cartoons and others bring “an immediacy and impact that the written word cannot”.

For any enquiries regarding the 2020 in Cartoons collection and Brian Adcocks work please contact esilibrary@esimedia.co.uk

Boris’s fortune for 2020

29th December 2019: Following Boris Johnson winning a convincing majority in the general election and pledging to ‘Get Brexit Done’, Adcock shows us a naïvely hopeful Boris and an eerie telling of his biggest challenges in 2020.

Auld Lang Syne

31st December 2019: Politicians and heads of state like Boris Johnson, President Donald Trump, Angela Merkel, Dominic Cummings hold hands and hinder each other whilst welcoming in the New Year.

Roaring 20s

2nd January 2020: World leaders depicted disheveled and embarrassing while public roar with laughter at them. Trump is being impeached, Kim Jong-un is talking about nuclear weapons again and Boris is accused of lying about Brexit and the NHS in the New Year’s message.

Restraint

8th January 2020: Politicians wrestle to restrain Trump’s Twitter fingers during his busy month of tweets in January. He tweets his way through his impeachment trial and threatens to attack Iranian cultural sites if Iran retaliates for the assassination of General Soleimani.

Never complain, explain

20th January 2020: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce they will officially step down from their royal duties to make their own way in the world.

Coronavirus earth

28th January 2020: The moon wears a face mask while the world manifests as a giant coronavirus cell amid reports of the virus becoming a global pandemic.

Playing hardball

5th February 2020: Boris has some hard lines to stick to in negotiations with the European Union, who are shown ready and waiting to hit back hard with a huge bat.

Boris bridge playtime

10th February 2020: Adcock depicts a Baby Boris playing like a child with his bridge from Scotland to Northern Ireland as chief adviser Dominic Cummings works next to him. This comes after some of the party question the Prime Minister’s reliance on Cummings.

Reins of power

17th February 2020: Cummings takes the reins after Boris continues to struggle to regain his grip on a shaken party and his leadership.

In deep water

19th February 2020: Cummings keeps from drowning as he plunges Boris into the depths to deal with the Huawei 5G row with the US and quarrels with the BBC over their licence fee, sparking backlash from Tory MPs.

Unstoppable

23rd March 2020: Tyson Fury knocks out Deontay Wilder to win the WBC heavyweight championship, Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign raises a record amount for 2020 and the early polls look promising - all while grave statistical predictions are issued for Covid-19 in the UK and  cases of coronavirus spike across Europe.

Boris’s progeny

2nd March 2020: Covid cases rise and keeping track becomes tricky in the UK as Boris and his partner Carrie Symonds announce they are expecting a baby; prompting plenty of jokes on social media about Boris’s unconfirmed total of children.

Will the threat of lockdown stop people gathering?

23rd March 2020: The United Kingdom is plunged into lockdown as the government introduces new measures requiring people to stay at home, closing certain businesses and venues and stopping all gatherings of more than two people in public.

Balancing act

26th April 2020: Boris is back at work and performing quite a difficult balancing act, weighing the economic cost of the virus against the human cost.

Let them eat Tory ideology

25th October 2020: Boris is seen as the out of touch aristocrat Marie-Antoinette due to his battle with footballer Marcus Rashford over offering free school meals to children in need over the Christmas break.

Rumbling on

27th October 2020: Boris’s row over free school meals carries on as paediatricians and the general public support Rashford’s campaign.

Letter to Santa

28th October 2020: Elves scramble to produce PPE as Santa Claus reads Boris Johnson’s Christmas list where he requests a functioning Conservative party and a Test & Trace system.

Heal

8th November 2020: Kamala Harris, Uncle Sam and Joe Biden celebrate the US election results next to another iteration of Uncle Sam leaving Trump behind as he disputes the election results.

Boris building bridges

9th November 2020: As the bridge between the UK and US burns away, Boris works to construct a new connect. He embarks on new ventures too as he signs off a review exploring the feasibility of a tunnel between Northern Ireland and Scotland.

I’m a narcissist…Leave me in here!

15th November 2020: As I’m a Celebrity…Get me out of here! returns to ITV for its 20th series, Adcock parodies the show’s premise with presenters Ant & Dec telling Trump he has lost the election.