British politician of 2014? You decide [Poll now closed]

It's been a long year in UK politics, one which many in Westminster will hope to forget. But we want your opinion on who has been the star, the stand-out and the MVP of British politics in 2014.

With only months to go until the 2015 General Election, IBTimes UK is inviting you to vote for your favourite below. We've whittled the shortlist down to four candidates. The poll closes on 24 December.

Nigel Farage

A victory at the European Union (EU) parliamentary elections, two Tory defectors turned Ukip MPs and an opinion poll rating consistently in the teens. It hasn't been a bad year for Farage and his Eurosceptic party.

Ukip stole headlines from Labour and the Tories throughout 2014 – often for good and bad.

A highlight for Farage was his triumph over Nick Clegg when the two clashed on TV over the UK's membership of the EU. An instant poll after one of the bouts put the Ukip leader on 69% against Clegg's 31%.

Like it or not, the 50-year-old has been elevated from the bloke who once called the former President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy a "damp rag", to a household name in the UK.

He even appeared on a special of Channel 4's Gogglebox, where he enjoyed a wine-fuelled interview with the show's resident "posh couple", Steph and Dom.

But his pint drinking, cigarette smoking, man-of-the-people persona can only get Farage so far and the end of 2014 saw his personal opinion ratings slump to record lows on the back of a Ukip's first sex scandal and the former trader's controversial comments on breastfeeding.

Nicola Sturgeon

Sturgeon and Alex Salmond lost the Scottish independence referendum. But who cares about minor details like that? Salmond's resignation following the vote led to Sturgeon becoming the first leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the first woman to become the First Minister of Scotland.

The "Yes" campaign has lived on past the election and the SNP's membership has rocketed past 85,000 as the Westminster parties continued to recover from the shock of the uncomfortably close result.

Arguably, under Sturgeon, the party is stronger than ever and pollsters are predicting that the SNP could snatch 20 more seats at the 2015 General Election at Labour's expense.

Russell Brand

Comedian, TV host, radio host, YouTube star, author and activist. Russell Brand is a celebrity polymath. Brand first entered the political arena proper when he was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight in October 2013.

The infamously combative host questioned Brand's call for a "revolution" in that month's issue of the New Statesman, which the comedian had edited. The exchange was a hit and "activist Brand" was born.

The 39-year-old was able to cement that reputation this year as he found himself being interviewed by members of the Cambridge Union Society, the launch of his YouTube series The Trews and the publication of his new book Revolution.

Brand used his celebrity later in the year to back the campaign to stop the residents of the New Era housing estate in East London from getting evicted. The movement's success solidified Brand's move from prophet of vague and mysterious ideologies to a supporter of action.

But controversy still followed Brand. He published the mobile number of a Daily Mail reporter who requested a comment from the comedian and labelled a Channel 4 News journalist a "snide" after facing tough questioning during the New Era housing campaign.

His appearance on Question Time in December next to Farage summed Brand's year up.

The former radio host blasted the Ukip leader and championed the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in their pension fight against the government.

But Brand was sexist against the Fire Minister Penny Mordaunt and wilted under tough questioning from the show's street-wise audience.

Jim Murphy

The Glaswegian shone during the Scottish Independence Referendum campaign as Murphy took his Irn-Bru crate to a "100 streets in 100 days" to champion the "No" vote.

The East Renfrewshire MP's one-man-crusade to save the union showed up the Better Together group, who adopted a more lacklustre approach.

Murphy, widely seen as a "Blairite", was able to beat Unison, Unite and GMB backed Neil Findlay to become the Sottish Labour leader in December.

But the 47-year-old faces tough opposition in the face of Sturgeon and the SNP next May.

However, Murphy hasn't messed around ahead of the election and swiftly backed the devolution of income tax to Scotland as well as promising to put patriotism centre stage in his party's campaign.

The poll has now closed. Please find the results below.