The lines are now open, as they say in X Talent Factor. (And they’ll now stay open until midnight on Jan 5 – Ed.))

The Chamberlain News’ resident and guest bloggers have demonstrated their prejudices, petty mindedness and bias in their nominations – now it’s your turn.

We’ve drawn up a shortlist of 11 candidates to win the coveted title Chamber POTY 2012 – The Chamberlain News Person of the Year. To choose your favourite, simply make your selection in the poll below. Click here to see what we’ve said about them.

Voting closes at one minute to midnight on

New year’s Eve.  Due to what we can only describe as – ahem – voting enthusiasm amongst our readers, we’re leaving the poll open for an extra five days.

You probably won’t hear much from us over the holiday season, apart from a few updates on the POTY poll results. Paul Dale is retreating to his holiday lair in Cornwall, to rest and recuperate before embarking on another year of annoying the hell out of whoever he damn well pleases. Marc Reeves and Kevin Johnson intend to spend quality time with their whisky collections.

Many thanks to both of our regular readers for continuing to read this drivel over the past year. I’m delighted to report that we recorded more than 100,000 page views in 2012.

Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year from The Chamberlain News.