Sorting dictionary keys based on their values

I have a python dictionary setup like so ``` mydict = { 'a1': ['g',6], 'a2': ['e',2], 'a3': ['h',3], 'a4': ['s',2], 'a5': ['j',9], 'a6': ['y',7] } ``` I need to write a function which returns the ordered keys in a list, depending on which column your sorting on so for example if we're sorting on mydict[key][1] (ascending) I should receive a list back like so ``` ['a2', 'a4', 'a3', 'a1', 'a6', 'a5'] ``` It mostly works, apart from when you have columns of the same value for multiple keys, eg. 'a2': ['e',2] and 'a4': ['s',2]. In this instance it returns the list like so ``` ['a4', 'a4', 'a3', 'a1', 'a6', 'a5'] ``` Here's the function I've defined ``` def itlist(table_dict,column_nb,order="A"): try: keys = table_dict.keys() values = [i[column_nb-1] for i in table_dict.values()] combo = zip(values,keys) valkeys = dict(combo) sortedCols = sorted(values) if order=="A" else sorted(values,reverse=True) sortedKeys = [valkeys[i] for i in sortedCols] except (KeyError, IndexError), e: pass return sortedKeys ``` And if I want to sort on the numbers column for example it is called like so ``` sortedkeysasc = itmethods.itlist(table,2) ``` So any suggestions? Paul