Sir Sajid Javid, the former cabinet minister whose decision to quit Boris Johnson’s government triggered a wave of resignations that ultimately led to the then prime minister stepping down, has received a knighthood in the New Year honours.
The MP for Bromsgrove, who served Johnson as chancellor and later as health minister before quitting in July 2022, becomes a knight bachelor.
Dame Margaret Beckett, the UK’s first female foreign secretary, has been awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, one of Britain’s highest honours, for her five decades in frontline politics.
Beckett, Labour MP for Derby South, became a member of parliament in 1974 for the seat of Lincoln, acted as party leader after the death of John Smith and later served in Tony Blair’s cabinet.
The New Year honours list, the second to be signed off by King Charles III, is compiled from nominations made by organisations or members of the public that are then scrutinised by subject-based honours committees, which advise the prime minister.
Javid, who was chancellor for around seven months in 2019-2020, said the knighthood was a “tremendous honour” and that he wished his late father was “here to see it”.
Last year tax experts questioned the non-domiciled status Javid held before he entered parliament while he was working as an investment banker, which had allowed him to avoid payments on overseas earnings.
He gave up his “non-dom” status in 2009 before he was elected to parliament the following year. He will step down as an MP at the next election.
A series of honours goes to individuals who have donated funds to the Conservative party, a trend that has sparked allegations of cronyism in the past.
These include Sir John Griffin, founder of taxi company Addison Lee, who is given a knighthood for services to business and charity. He gave the Conservatives more than £4mn up to 2019, according to Electoral Commission data.
Griffin acknowledged he had given money to the Tories in the past, but said he had not made any donations in recent years and did not consider himself a political person. He said he was “extremely proud” of the company he started.
Vocal Brexiter Sir Tim Martin, founder of the pub chain JD Wetherspoon, receives a knighthood for his services to hospitality. He gave a £200,000 donation to Vote Leave in 2016 and £50,000 to the Tory party in the run-up to the 2019 election.
A spokesperson for JD Wetherspoon said: “Charges of cronyism are clearly at odds with reality. [Martin] made regular donations to Labour Leave, a Labour party pro-Brexit organisation. He has also made donations to Vote Leave and the Brexit party.”
The spokesperson noted that these donations were much bigger than gifts to the party of government, and that Martin had been a “consistent and vociferous critic of this and previous governments’ policies towards pubs”.
John Edmunds, an epidemiologist and a member of the Sage scientific advisory group charged with supporting government decision makers during the Covid-19 pandemic, gets a knighthood.
Edmunds has criticised the government for not implementing a lockdown early enough and described then chancellor Rishi Sunak’s flagship “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme to support businesses as “perverse”.
Edmunds said he was “amazed” by the honour, “partly because I have been rather critical of the government at times and partly because things like this don’t happen to people like me”. He added: “Science is a team game and it’s a bit embarrassing to be singled out.”
Fiona Hill, formerly a deputy assistant to Donald Trump when he was US president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the US National Security Council from 2017 to 2019, has been appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for her “exceptional and sustained career contribution”.
The British-born foreign affairs specialist is currently a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and chancellor of Durham University.
Amanda Blanc, chief executive of insurer Aviva, becomes a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to business, gender equality and net zero.
Stephen Hester, who was brought in by the government as chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2008 during the financial crisis and went on to become chief executive of RSA Insurance, receives a knighthood. Hester is now chair of Nordea Bank and easyJet.
Andrew Bell, co-founder and chief executive of investment group AJ Bell, and Vinaichandra Venkatesham, chief executive of Arsenal football club, both receive CBEs. Venkatesham is leaving Arsenal in summer 2024 after 14 years at the club, a period during which the team has regained its strength.
In the arts and entertainment industry, one of Sunak’s favoured authors Jilly Cooper, who is known for her romantic novels is made a dame. Michael Eavis, founder of the Glastonbury festival, Britain’s largest music event, receives a knighthood.
Financial Times columnist Gillian Tett, acclaimed for writing extensively about the risky financial instruments that contributed to the 2008 financial crash, is awarded an OBE for her services to journalism.
The 2023 New Year honours list recognises 1,227 individuals in total.
Additional reporting by Samuel Agini and Oliver Barnes
