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Keep them coming!

This close encounter of the political kind from Dizzy would make a brilliant entry to Danny's Chuck Colson Award. There's a prize going for the best entry this year as well, don't you know.

Murad Ahmed

Colson Award 2007 early entry

The Colson Award 2007 are off to a flying start.

A Mr Nicolas Sarkozy has written in to say that he passed the famous blogger and Times columnist Oliver Kamm in Oxford Street. M. Sarkozy did not wish to interrupt Mr Kamm "as I could see he was thinking about one of Naom Chomsky's conceptual errors".

Beat that.

The winner of the Chuck Colson Award 2006

Time to announce the winner for 2006.

There were so many fabulous entries, it was hard to know where to begin. But, in the end, the prize goes to Ron Bock for this entry:

Toronto. Winter of 1982. Two friends and I camped out in the Four Seasons to ask the members of The Who for autographs as they came off the elevators. We got the tip-off, someone was coming downstairs - maybe Pete Townsend! - so off we raced to the elevators. Doors opened and there was Joe Clark, former Prime Minister of Canada. He was amused by the obvious disappointment on our faces. "Who were you expecting?" he asked. "The Who." we replied. "I'm Joe Who." he offered, and this was quite true as "Joe Who" was the derogatory nickname he'd picked up in the Canadian press back in the 70s. Big laughs, and we all got his autograph, which he probably enjoyed giving more than we really did in receiving.

The prize? Yes, there is one. A superb signed picture of former British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon obtained in a tense auction bidding war.

The Chuck Colson Award continues, of course, with a premium on reports of live spots (eg yesterday I saw Amy Carter in Gap, or whatever) and picture entries.

And there will be a new competition announced any day now.

Chuck Update

The Crunchy Con, Rod Dreher, has taken up the challenge. He has asked his readers to provide Colson award entries. So click on the comments of his post and you can find 40 more contributions.

Though not quite eligible, I particularly liked this one:

My ex-boss's son once dated Yakov Smerdlov's great - granddaughter. It was Smerdlov who carried out the order to kill Czar Nicholas II and his family.

Chuck Colson Award: photo entry

Laura Seay has emailed with this excellent Coulson entry. She writes to say that this is her and her best friends jumping around on Karl Rove's bed. They were told that the summer house they had rented belonged to the Presidential adviser.

A superb Colson entry

An excellent Chuck Colson photo entry from the consistently excellent David Grossman of Newsnight:

I was lucky enough to get tickets to the 1991 Rugby World Cup semi-final in Edinburgh between England and Scotland. That was the day I knew for sure I was a hopeless political junkie. Despite the closeness and excitement of the game (9-6 to England, Gavin Hastings missed an easy penalty as I remember) my attention was distracted by a young politician seated behind me. I attach photographic evidence.

I know what you will say. The man in question is by no means obscure. This is very true. However, in my defence remember this was this was 1991 and he was only Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary at the time. Adjusted for political inflation this makes him the equivalent of Alan Duncan in today's money. What do you think? I don't really care, because I have a picture of me and the Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary at a rugby match in 1991 and that's all that matters. 

Before you look at the pic, I want you to note three more things so that you understand what an awesome entry this is.

First, a picture of Grossman at a rugby match would have been superb by itself.

Second, this picture contains not just the Newsnight man, not just the Shadow Secretary, but also Gus Macdonald, latterly Transport minister.

Finally, Alice Miles observes (a brilliant spot this) that, while everyone else is wearing casual clothes, the Shadow Secretary is wearing a tie at a rugby match on a Saturday.

Chuck Colson Award: Photo special

Last week, we started the Chuck Colson Award, a competition for readers from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, to write in about their chance meetings with an obscure politician everywhere, (click here to read the original post, and the numerous entries in the comments section). The response has been fantastic.

For example, David Gilles writes:

I've hung out a few times with the niece of the ex-President of Costa Rica.

Now to stage two: photos. I'm still keen to hear stories, even unillustrated, but I'm putting a premium on those who have photographic evidence of their close encounter (send your photos to commentcentral@thetimes.co.uk). Here are some of the best so far.

Firstly, Scott Stadum writes:

This is a photo taken of me with John Dean of Watergate fame during a book signing of his in Washington, DC. I gave him a little story about being in Peace Corps and he said, "it wasn't in Cuba was it?" - because of the shirt. 

Next, here's an impressively grainy photo of Stephen Pollard with Jerry Brown:

And finally, Jonathan Bracey Gibbon writes:

Not entirely political

But here’s me in a queue behind the world’s richest man.

Now this one shouldn't strictly count, as Bill Gates isn't a politician. But as you can't be sure exactly who it is from the back of his head, I don't have enough information to disqualify this entry.

There will be (suitably politically obscure) prizes for the winner(s), so keep those entries coming.

Chuck Colson Award: latest update

The quality and quantity of submissions to the Chuck Colson Award have been astonishing (click here for further explanation). You need to read them all.

I hope you keep them coming, with multiple entries allowed and a premium on live spotting and photographs.

Here are just a few moving, life-changing encounters I have learned about in the last 24 hours:

Chris C once queued up behind Commons Speaker Bernard Weatherill at a pharmacy as he waited to pick up a prescription.

B. Barth once stood in line behind Robert "Bud" McFarlane to buy tickets to the movie "My Life as a Dog."

Ed Koch stepped on Brian's foot at a county fair.

VAR shares a dry cleaner with former Governor Tommy Thompson, who has, apparently, a lot of dry cleaning.

PM's wife once dated Jimmy Hoffa's grandson.

Keri possesses Gray Davis's gubernatorial cufflinks.

Steve Schwartz has been kissed by President Kenneth Kaunda.

Jim Perrin sat next to C.Everett Koop on an airplane.

and Dwight Weeks had a bagel bought for him by Governor Jim McGreevey.

Top that.

Chuck Colson Award: photo exclusive

I am in awe of some of the early responses to the establishment of the Chuck Colson Award (for spotting obscure politicians and so on. For a full explanation click here).

You will probably want to read all the comments yourself. You won't want to miss news about the contents of Clare Short's shopping trolley or the daughter of former prime minister of Bavaria Franz-Josef Strauss...

I was delighted, for instance, to be informed by William Norton that:

Someone who may or may not have been former Liberal Party leader Lord Grimond walked straight past me outside the Albert Hall once.

And it is difficult to compete with this story from Poldraw:

I was performing live on Latvian television with a Norwegian gospel choir, when food poisoning kicked in. The following day the Latvian minister of Health came to my hotel room, sat on my bed, and asked me if the city we were performing in and the Norwegian city where the choir is based, could stay twinned. I said it would be no problem. I can't remember the minister's name, as I was more concerned about not throwing up at the time...

Although, obviously, the missing name is a big problem.

This from Robert Hewings via email is magnificent:

A couple of months after meeting Jimmy Magro, the General Secretary of the Maltese Labour Party, he emailed me to ask me to vote for his entry in a beach buggy 'pimp my ride' competition. I don't know whether he won or not.

I am looking forward to hearing more from all of you. But I am now in a position to provide my first photo-exclusive. Stephen Pollard obtained this autograph in the street when he was 12 years old:

Keep the entries coming. Multiple entries welcome. The email address is commentcentral@thetimes.co.uk

The Chuck Colson Award

I am starting a competition, in fact a new thread for this blog. It's for all of you - Britons, Americans, wherever you live - with an interest in the politically obscure and trivial.

But I don't start things unless I have a decent chance of winning them myself. So before you start rating yourself let me just tell you a few things that will put you in your place:

• A few years ago, while walking down the street near my London office, Chuck Colson walked straight past me.
• I was the recipient of a large, hideously ugly, mother of pearl gift from Yassir Arafat.
• Art Laffer drew a Laffer curve for me on a napkin.
• I possess the autograph of Aslef union leader Ray Buckton.
• I have spoken on the telephone with Dom Mintoff, the former Prime Minister of Malta.
• I have shaken hands with Alexander Dubcek.

Here's the competition. I am looking for all contact - spotting in the street yesterday, autograph collected in your youth, meeting held with, picture taken with, gift received from, or whatever - with political figures.

Now famous is fine but semi-famous is even better, faintly ludicrous is best of all. Pictures are particularly welcome, especially if they show the semi-famous figure doing something prosaic. Bruce Babbitt shopping for a new television would be ideal.

Either post your "spot" in the comment section or send me an email with picture to commentcentral@thetimes.co.uk. There will be suitably obscure and ludicrous prizes, although winning, of course, isn't really the point. I'll also be updating you as all those great entries come rolling in.

(UPDATE: see the best entries so far here)

(UPDATE: After the massive response, I give you the best entries of the week)

(Another UPDATE: A photo special)

(Yet another UPDATE: David Grossman of Newsnight with a photo that will be hard to beat)

(Ah hem, UPDATE: Jumping around on Karl Rove's bed)

(WE HAVE A WINNER! The grand finale of the Chuck Colson Award 2006)