Having seen that Phil at A Very Public Sociologist has thrown his hat into the ring for The Orwell Prize 2011 for bloggers, I’ve decided to do the same – it’s a self-nominating prize. Info here. I’ve been at this blogging lark for more than 5 years now and maybe I’ve learnt some things along the way.

To give an idea of how it works the long list for 2010 is here, and the 2010 shortlist here. 4 of the 14 blogs nominated last year were from mainstream media journalists, and 2 of the 14 were from people that cross over between mainstream media and blogging, more evidence of blogging becoming the new mainstream?

Anyway the chances I get shortlisted are rather low, and to lose out to someone like David Allen Green would be no shame whatsoever. Here are the 10 posts I’ve submitted:

1. The Hypocrisy of Europe’s Railways – some observations after a journey from Brussels to Germany – an investigation of the political consequences of the Climate Express train that left Belgium to Copenhagen for the climate summit, and the problems with Europe-wide rail travel.
2. I think I have some sort of political depression – I think the header says it all really. The political clouds have not lifted in the 10 months since I wrote that piece.
3. Cameron trapped between Tory dinosaurs and Lib Dem enthusiasts on Europe – a piece for Left Foot Forward analysing the EU policies of the coalition
4. How the current ‘debate’ about election reform is giving precisely the opposite of a principled outcome – an attempt to look at each party’s motivations for election reform, and work out why everyone seems to be unhappy about AV and the referendum
5. Europa ist führungslos cries Helmut Schmidt. He’s right. But why? – an analysis of statements by the former Chancellor of Germany about a lack of leadership in the EU
6. Melancholy solidarity from a former fees protester – more than a decade on from my own student days, what should we have done then, looking back?
7. You can’t compare me to the Führer but I can call you a fascist – what happens when MEPs trade right wing insults, and why some can get away with it and others can’t
8. Blogging: the new mainstream – what happens when there’s an overlap between blogging and the mainstream media when it comes to political reporting
9. Institutionalising a bargain that’s not credible – why the coalition’s plans for X Factor politics are likely to end up with impossible suggestions put forward
10. The EU is a man sat in Princeton, NJ – my response to The Guardian / Presseurop’s My Europe series, a piece about why the EU is currently dysfunctional