Accountancy Age has begun its poll for 'personality of the year', but look who they have picked for the shortlist:

Kieran Poynter. He's kept PwC at the top and headed up the HMRC inquiry into lost discs. An absolutely reliable pair of hands.

John Connolly, £2bn. He's aggressively driven the growth of Deloitte and is now challenging for the title of Britain's biggest firm. A risk taker whose risks have paid off.

Helen Weir, Lloyds TSB. Was LloydsTSB's FD but was promoted this year to head of retail banking. A woman on the rise and looking to be a CEO in the not too distant future.

George Osborne, shadow chancellor who has affectively attacked Labour on tax and the economy. He's made the headlines and gone some distance to make the Tories credible on finance again.

David Viniar CFO Goldman Sachs. Key figure in ensuring that Goldman Sachs was among the few to call the sub prime melt down right and make a fortune from it.

Angus Russell, Shire Pharmaceuticals. Took his company offshore triggering a huge, much needed debate on the state of corporate tax in the UK.

It's tough creating a list that automatically puts George Osborne on top: the man who thought up both the domicile law reform and some pretty inequitable changes to Inheritance Tax, but that's what they've managed to do.

I won't be voting. It looks like John Cleese was right about accountancy after all.