ConservativeHome readers choose 'the veto' as the political event of 2011

By Tim Montgomerie
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ConservativeHome readers have already chosen Michael Gove as their Conservative of the Year and John Redwood as their Backbencher of the Year.

The third award goes to the political event of the year and the winner is, not surprisingly, 'the veto'. Not far behind, however, is 'the rebellion of the eighty-one' - the event, that arguably, made the veto happen. Here's the top ten events as voted on by nearly 2,000 readers:

1. David Cameron's veto of the EU Treaty: 29%
2. The rebellion of 81 Tory MPs on the issue of an EU referendum: 16%
3. The defeat of the AV referendum and good council results: 9%
4. George Osborne's Autumn Statement: 8%
5. The summer's riots: 7%
6. The Libyan campaign: 4%
7. The closure of the News of the World, Andy Coulson's resignation and hackgate: 3%
8. The Arab Spring: 1%
9. The SNP's victory in Scotland: 1%
10. The replacement of elected leaders in Greece and Italy: 1%

Other events like the NHS u-turn and Liam Fox's resignation just fell outside of the top ten.