There will be more than the usual interest come the weekend after Christmas when Queen Elizabeth kicks off her Golden Jubilee Year with the New Year's honours list. But time today for the London Letter's own nominees from among the great and not necessarily so good.
An election year inevitably throws up fairly obvious winners and losers. This year's committee (including three seasoned observers of the British scene) agreed, with some unseasonal reluctance, that Tony Blair had to be adjudged "Winner of the Year" for leading Labour to its historic and unprecedented second full term in office.
However, that indisposition to join the universal chorus of praise reflects in two further awards to Mr Blair: "Political vandal of the Year" (for what our left-leaning colleague considered President Blair's degradation of cabinet government) and "Cop Out of the Year" (for what our Tory complained was his continued refusal to come clean about his plans to join the euro).
A new award, "Tease of the Year", goes to Chancellor Gordon Brown for persuading the Euro-sceptic press he might be the man to stop Mr Tony in his tracks, and for refusing to confirm Mr Blair's insistence that they do not have a secret deal by which to make Mr Brown prime minister.
In the era of spin the "Most Promising Newcomer" goes to cabinet minister and Labour chairman, Charles Clarke, for his strange tendency to tell things as he sees them - famously admitting that areas of the Health Service had fallen back under Labour, and for suggesting the government should go for the euro referendum even if it fails Chancellor Brown's famed economic tests.
Last year's winner Alistair Campbell claims the spoils again for "Best Spin of the Year" - this time for outrageously announcing the death of spin.
Still with Labour, the committee decided to award David Blunkett the "Basil Brookeborough Award" for restoring internment powers to the statute book just three years after Labour had abolished it; and also the "Double Standards" award for that strange distinction between domestic and international terrorism.
And the Conservative shadow Northern Ireland spokesman, Quentin Davies, emerged a late winner for the "Least Impressive Newcomer" award after effectively blowing Tuesday's Tory attack on the government decision to grant Sinn FΘin MPs Westminster facilities and allowances - surprising Conservative Central Office by announcing the end of bipartisanship and delivering a blustering Commons speech which saw him likened to a Sumo wrestler being stung to slow death by crazed hornets.
Former Tory leader William Hague was an obvious contender for "Loser of the Year". However, the decision went against him because nobody had expected him to win the election anyway, and because he had wisely decided to quit while behind and seize the chance to get a life.
Never-would-be Tory leader Michael Portillo also put in a strong showing but again the feeling was that he'd probably had a lucky escape and was better off out of it. And in the end the Foreign Office sort of provided the final short-list. In third place was Robin Cook, who thought himself safe and had to decide quickly his demotion to Leader of the Commons was the job he had really, really wanted all the time.
Jack Straw was Cook's surprise replacement and so was our runner up for Loser - having got the job only to find Britain signed up for the American-led war on terrorism and Mr Blair preferring to be his own Foreign Secretary.
However, there was unanimity that the biggest "Loser of the Year" had to be Peter Mandelson. It seemed he did have expectation of making it to the Foreign Office before being forced to resign a second time, for doing nothing wrong in relation to the Hinduja brothers, and his exile as the backbench member for Hartlepool.
Mr Mandelson's old friend and sponsor David Trimble, meanwhile, is the "Escapologist of the Year" - for finally losing his mandate and becoming minority unionist leader at Stormont, tearing up the rules of the Belfast Agreement to get himself re-elected First Minister, and getting away with it.