Happy Birthday, Your Majesty

Today is H.M. the Queen's official birthday and sees the publication of the Birthday Honours list.

A total of 1,180 people have been honoured, 72% of whom are actively involved in charitable or voluntary work within their local community, the others for other types of service. 556 of awards go to women, about half the list, and 6% to people from an ethnic minority.


Among the well known people honoured are the actress, Claire Bloom, who receives a CBE as does the actor and comedian, Rowan Atkinson. His Blackadder colleague Tony Robinson gets a knighthood, for which he was recommended by Parliamentary and Political Services Committee, chaired by Lord Spicer, for his public and political service. Other awards recommende by that committee included the title of Companion of Honour for the Rt Hon Menzies Campbell, MP for North East Fife; and knighthoods for Edward Leigh, MP for Gainsborough; Stephen Houghton, Leader, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council; and the Rt Hon Andrew Stunell, MP for Hazel Grove.

There is also a CBE for Thomas Heatherwick, designer of the Olympic Cauldron; an OBE for the sports presenter, Clare Balding; an OBE for the golfer, Paul Lawrie; an MBE for the actor, director and playwright, David Haig Collum Ward; an MBE for the comedian, Robert Brydon; an MBE for the singer and broadcaster, Aled Jones; and an MBE for the singer and songwriter, Adele Adkins.
Senior women at DBE in this list include Professor Nicky Cullum, Professor of Nursing, University of Manchester; Professor Hermione Lee, President of Wolfson College and Professor of English Literature, University of Oxford; and Diana Ellis, Executive Chair, British Rowing.

Education

In total, about 10% of honours are for work in education. The Education Committee has recognised 28 headteachers in total, including knighthoods and damehoods for the following 5 headteachers; Dana Ross-Wawrzynski, Executive Headteacher, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls; Sue Bourne, Headteacher, The Avenue School, Reading; Kenneth Gibson, Executive Headteacher, Harton Technology College and Jarrow School, South Tyneside; Greg Martin, Executive Headteacher, Durand Academy, London Borough of Lambeth and David Carter, Executive Principal, Cabot Learning Federation.

British Empire Medals include an award to Anisa Haghdadi, a social entrepreneur, who founded a street dance company at 15 for underprivileged young people in Birmingham, and has made a real contribution to education through her voluntary work for Aim Higher, supporting a range of post 16 learners.

Health

Health makes up 7% of all honours. These include 3 nurses, 3 GPs, 2 community paediatricians, a radiographer and a plaster cast technician. In addition to the damehood for Professor Nicky Cullum, there is a damehood for Professor Anne Johnson, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, University College London. The other awards in health include a knighthood for Professor Peng Tee Khaw, Consultant Opthalmic Surgeon, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London; and a knighthood for Professor Andrew Hall, lately Professor of Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Industry and the economy

Industry and the economy make up 10% of the awards and include knighthoods for Richard Olver, Chairman, BAE Systems plc; Charlie Mayfield, Chair, John Lewis Partnership; and Brendan Barber, lately General Secretary, Trades Union Congress. Other awards include a CBE for Dale Murray, an angel investor with a portfolio of investments across technology and other sectors; and a CBE for Caroline Cooper, Chief Operating Officer, Big Society Capital.

Science and technology

Science and technology make up 2% of the total. The awards include a knighthood for Professor Michael Stratton, Director, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, and Professor of Cancer Genetics, Institute of Cancer Research; and a knighthood for Professor Nigel Shadbolt, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of Southampton.

The MBEs include an award to Professor Catherine Martin, Biologist and Editor in Chief, The Plant Cell, whose work has led to fundamental new insights into the production of pigments in flowers and fruit.

The full Birthday honours list can be found here.

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