This year has been a pivotal one in terms of Bermuda politics. Some foreign workers were asked to leave to make way for Bermudians in need of jobs and Bermuda geared up for an election that the One Bermuda Alliance eventually won.You can remember some of the highlights of 2012 with Peter Woolcock’s latest collection of political cartoons ‘Woppened 24’ on sale now.Mr Woolcock has been finding the funny side of Bermuda’s political life for The Royal Gazette for more than two decades. The annual Woppened collection of his work is a popular Christmas gift. This year however, it looks a little different.“I always used to say that the books were a good stocking stuffer,” said Mr Woolcock. “Let’s just say that this year the book will fit a little better in the stocking as it is physically smaller. It still has the same number of pages though.”He said one thing that has changed about the books over the years is that he now adds a longer written explanation with each cartoon in the book.“It is not that the politics have become more complicated,” he said. “Politicians and politics have not changed. What has changed is that some of the Woppened books are now used in civics studies in schools.”He said he has been heavily influenced by famed British cartoonist David Low who drew political cartoons between the 1920s and the 1960s. Mr Low often included a paragraph of explanation under his drawings.“I learned an awful lot from him,” said Mr Woolcock. “His work was chock full of history with a funny drawing. So some of my explanations are meaty to the point where I wondered if it was going to fit. But it needed it.”When he first started putting the books together, he knew he was recording history, but he also thought, ‘who would want to know and to remember what the minister said last October’. It turned out a lot of people were interested. As he got into gear, he realised he was putting together a kind of potted history of Bermuda from year to year.“Today I get more reactions from people,” he said. They take the time to tell me their reaction, which is always nice. Unknown people phone me and say they laughed at last Friday’s cartoons. By then, I’ve often forgotten what I did last Friday because I am in the middle of doing my next one. I love doing camels, dogs and chickens. I used to be an animal artist for 30 years in England drawing for children’s publications. I did 80 percent animals. So whenever I get the chance, I slip them into my political cartoons.”He draws dogs with particular affection. As a young man, after serving in the Second World War he worked as a dog trainer in England.“That was in 1946 and I had a boxer and a mastiff,” he said. “I love dogs, but one thing that drives me insane is barking. Mad incessant mindless barking almost gave me a nervous breakdown. So I stopped doing that fairly quickly.”‘Woppened 24’ is available at Brown and Company and at the Bermuda Bookstore.