CABINET OFFICE News
Release (CAB/121-08) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 31
December 2008
The 2009 New Year
Honours List is published today, recognising outstanding
achievement and service across the whole of the community.
In total 966 people have been recommended to the Prime Minister
for an award:
* 827 candidates have been selected at MBE and OBE level, 598 at
MBE and 229 at OBE.
* There are 378 successful women candidates in the list,
including six Dames, 21 CBEs and one CB. This represents 39% of
the total.
* Six per cent of the successful candidates come from ethnic
minority communities.
* More than 70% of the recipients are local heroes undertaking
outstanding work in their own communities, while 39% are honoured
for their work in voluntary and local services.
Honours for Britain's hugely successful Olympians and
Paralympians include a knighthood for triple gold medallist Chris
Hoy and an MBE for 14-year-old swimmer Eleanor Simmonds, the
youngest person ever to receive an honour.
But the sports stars of Beijing make up only a tiny minority of
the people on the list. The majority are local heroes from a range
of fields, undertaking outstanding work that is having a real
impact in the community. They include an MBE for senior nurse
Carol Hoy - the mother of cyclist Chris - who is honoured for her
exceptional service to healthcare.
Six individuals are honoured for showing real service to others
in the midst of the London terrorist bombings in 2005. They
include an MBE for Timothy Coulson, who jumped across the tracks
and into a damaged Tube train to render first aid.
Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was murdered in 2000, is awarded
an MBE for her outstanding services to child protection.
In the fields of Community Voluntary and Local Services (which
make up 39% of the awards) there are Knighthoods for, among
others, His Honour Judge Goolam Meeran, who as president of the
Employment Tribunal led reform of the entire tribunal system and
for John Madejski, a major philanthropist and the chairman of
Reading Football Club.
At CBE there is Dr Indarjit Singh, director of the Network of
Sikh Organisations and a leading figure in the national and
international inter-faith movement.
There are OBEs for Janet Miller, who for more than 40 years has
been involved in many national charities, and Bernard Lewis, an
82-year-old businessman who has been working voluntarily in the
charity sector since his retirement.
Among the people at MBE who have made a real impact on their
communities are The Rev Dr John Elliston, who has given
considerable service to vulnerable and homeless people in
Darlington, Vivienne Smith, who has spent more than 43 years as a
volunteer leader for Girlguiding UK, and Dee Edwards and Lynnette
Costello, co-founders of Mothers against Murder and Aggression, a
charity supporting families and friends of murder victims.
Education makes up about 10% of the total, with Knighthoods for
Professor Timothy Brighouse, a national leader for school
improvement, and Robert Edwards, headteacher at Garforth Community
College in Leeds and the national leader of education with the
National College of School Leadership.
In total, 11 head teachers are recommended for honours. These
include a CBE for Tarun Kapur from Trafford, who has not only
excelled in his own school but also established a strong
partnership with Manchester United Football Club.
The list of education OBEs includes Robert Drew, headteacher of
Gearies Infant School in Redbridge, and Elphin Jones, principal of
Harper Adams University College in Shropshire, who has led the
agricultural establishment to expansion and success.
There are MBEs for 11 school teachers and 12 school governors.
Included are Maureen Tyler-Moore, the principal of Foxes Academy
in Minehead, a training hotel for students with a wide variety of
learning difficulties, and Margaret Fish, honoured for her support
to the community and her 36 years of dedicated and unbroken
service as a Class Teacher at Park Primary School in Alloa.
Douglas Macneilage, the janitor at Tobermory High School, receives
an MBE for his contribution to the school and his community.
Health makes up 8% of all honours. The wide range of awards
include DBEs for Elizabeth Fradd, for services to nursing and for
her extensive and regular contribution to policy development at
national and international levels, and for Professor Sally Davies,
director of research and development at the Department of Health,
for her outstanding contribution to patient care and health research.
There are Knighthoods for Nicholas Partridge, chief executive of
Aids charity the Terence Higgins Trust, and Bernard Ribeiro, who
recently retired as President of the Royal College of Surgeons
after 40 years of work at a local, regional and national level.
Dr Nigel Lightfoot, chief adviser at the Health Protection
Agency, is honoured with a CBE for the crucial role he played in
the polonium 210 poisoning incident, where he oversaw the
professional work.
There is also a CBE for Dr Kathleen Costeloe, senior lecturer and
honorary consultant paediatrician at Homerton University Hospital,
Hackney. She has co-led research on the survival and health status
of infants born at less than 26 weeks gestation.
Among the OBEs are Professor Barry Hancock, professor of oncology
at Sheffield Teaching Hospital, Dr Nadia Chambers, consultant
nurse for older people at Southampton University Hospital, and
Catherine Beswick, head of healthcare at HM Young Offender
Institution Huntercombe, for her work providing excellent health
services to some of the most vulnerable and excluded youngsters in society.
There are also MBEs for seven nurses (more than twice as many as
in previous lists), five GPs, and one dentist.
Industry and the Economy makes up 14% of the awards.
There are Knighthoods for Alexander Crombie, group chief
executive of Standard Life, and David Jones, who not only led the
Next firm from £25m to £4bn - a performance unsurpassed in retail
or any other sector on the London Stock Exchange - but also
co-founded the Cure Parkinson's Trust.
CBEs include Robert Holden, chief executive officer of London and
Continental Railways, who delivered the Channel Tunnel Rail Link
Project and the restoration of St Pancras Station.
There are OBEs for Andrew Ramroop, the first black business owner
in Savile Row, Kumar Muthalagappan, managing director of the Pearl
Hotel and Restaurants Group, and distinguished economist Dr Diane Coyle.
There are MBEs for a huge variety of people, including bag
designer Anya Hindmarch, British Curry Awards founder Enam Ali,
and service delivery assistant Wayne Spence, who is honoured for
his outstanding service to the public at Bristol Temple Meads station.
Science and Technology makes up 2% of the awards, including a
Knighthood for Dr Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust.
CBEs include Professor Tom Kirkwood, a leader in investigating
the genetics of ageing and longevity, and Professor Lesley Glover,
the chief scientific adviser to Scotland.
Among the OBEs are 81-year-old Jean Combes. She is a phenologist
- an expert in dating tree leaves - whose records are the longest
made by a single person anywhere in the world and are proving
incredibly valuable in monitoring the impact of climate change.
Glaciologist Robert Mulvaney from the British Antarctic Survey
also receives an OBE. He is one of the world's leading
scientists dealing with ice cores.
MBEs include Syd Wright, and archetypal unsung hero who, as chief
technician for Insect Survey at Rothamsted Research has generated
the world's most comprehensive database on terrestrial invertebrates.
Arts and Media make up 5% of the total.
There are DBEs for Rosalind Savill, director of the Wallace
Collection, and Jenny Abramsky, lately group director of BBC Audio
and Music.
There is a Knighthood for Terry Pratchett, one of the most
popular authors writing today, in recognition of the huge impact
his work has had across all ages and strata of society and across
the world.
There are CBEs for Robert Plant, one of the most significant rock
singers of all time, Lady Marina Vaizey, a prominent figure in the
arts world who has given distinguished service to almost every
major UK arts organisation, and Courtney Pine, one of the
UK's most influential and prolific jazz musicians.
Among the OBEs are actor Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair in
The Queen and David Frost in Frost / Nixon, and Lakhbir Kaur (AKA
Lucky Dhillon) multiple-award winning producer and broadcaster,
who is honoured for services to Asian broadcasting.
At MBE the list includes Betty Smith, the 87-year-old
"national treasure", famous for her part in the Royle
Family, and banjo player David Miles, the first such musician to
be honoured in recent memory.
The State Sector awards include a KCB for Jonathan Phillips,
Permanent Secretary at the Northern Ireland Office, whose
diplomatic skills have enabled once intractable parties to come
together and form a government working for the good of all of
Northern Ireland's citizens. There is also a KCB for Nick
Macpherson, Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, to recognise his
extraordinary work in response to the crisis in the financial
services industry.
Awards for Sport make up 8% of the total.
For Britain's Olympians there are one Knighthood, four CBEs,
six OBEs, and 23 MBEs.
Cyclist Chris Hoy who won three gold medals at Beijing on top of
the one he won in Athens and holds 27 World, Olympic and
Commonwealth medals, receives a knighthood.
There are CBEs for Ben Ainslie, Britain's most successful
sailor ever, Bradley Wiggins, the first cyclist to successfully
defend his pursuit title at the Olympics, David Brailsford,
performance director of the phenomenally successful British
cycling team and David Tanner, the performance director of GB Rowing.
Among the OBEs there are awards for Rebecca Adlington, who won
two swimming golds at Beijing, and for sailors Sarah Ayton and
Sarah Webb, who won gold at Beijing to add to their golds from
Athens in 2004
The gold medallists honoured with an MBE include the middleweight
boxer James DeGale, the women's 400m champion Christine
Ohuruogu, and cyclist Rebecca Romero, who won gold in cycling four
years after collecting a silver medal for rowing.
For the Paralympians there are two CBEs, seven OBEs and 12 MBEs.
David Roberts, who has now won 16 Paralympic medals at three
Games (including four gold medals at Beijing), has a CBE, as does
horseman Lee Pearson, who won three golds at Beijing.
Among the OBEs are cyclist Darren Kenny, who won four gold medals
at Beijing and swimmer Sascha Kindred, who won two golds and holds
several world records.
There is an MBE for swimmer Eleanor Simmonds, the 14- year-old
double gold medallist. The Honours Selection Committee was clear
that she should receive an MBE despite her age - no minor has
received an honour before.
In addition to the Olympic and Paralympic heroes there are MBEs
for local heroes of sport, including Lincoln Moses, the general
manager of Birmingham community football side Continental Star FC,
Dorothy Neyland, honoured for more than 30 years voluntary service
as a gymnastics coach in Swansea, and veteran tennis player Gerald
Ells, who was until recently the number two singles player in the
world rankings for the over 85s.
And Lewis Hamilton, who won the Formula One title in only his
second season, is honoured with an MBE.
Notes for Editors
1. The full list of New Year Honours 2009 can be found at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk
or http://www.honours.gov.uk.
2. The publication of last year's New Year Honours list was
accompanied by a new regional campaign designed to raise awareness
of the honours system and to inform people how to nominate.
3. Following the advertising campaign, the Cabinet Office has
recorded a marked increase in enquiries about the honours system,
as well as noticeable increase in nominations themselves.
Cabinet Office Press Office 22 Whitehall LONDON SW1A 2WH Tel: 020
7276 1146
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