The Companion of Honour for the RT Hon. James Gordon Brown is a former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister, who has held senior positions in government. He has also served as the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and World Health Organisation Ambassador for Global Health Financing. In Fife, he supported charitable activities, including the Multibank project, which works with businesses to donate surplus goods to local charities, school, and health services. By June 2023, the Multibank project has distributed over three million goods to 250,000 families in Fife, Dundee, Wigan, and Swansea, and is expanding to locations in the Northeast, Midlands, Northern Ireland, Wales, and London.

Dame Jennifer Gita Abramsky DBE is a media producer and philanthropist who has devoted her life to public service broadcasting. She has chaired the Board of Hampstead Theatre, Governors of the Royal Ballet, and served as a trustee of the Shakespeare Schools Foundation. She has also served as Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the University of London.

Terence Michael ELKAN BARNET, LORD ETHERTON KC is a retired judge and member of the House of Lords who was appointed as the chair of an independent review into the impact of the historic ban on LGBT military personnel and veterans. His work unveiled a culture of homophobia, bullying, blackmail, sexual assault, abusive investigations into sexual orientation, and disgraceful medical examinations, which have had damaging consequences for many LGBT veterans today.

Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Rob Philipson-Stow, who works in the Directorate of Defence Communications (DDC) is to be made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for planning the communications for three of the largest ceremonial events in recent years – the Platinum Jubilee, The Late Queen’s funeral (Op BRIDGE) and the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla (Op GOLDEN ORB).

The list of UK politicians includes several notable figures, including the most senior tax professional in Government,

A Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) was awarded to JAMES ALAN HARRA (CB)
The most senior tax professional in Government, this highly gifted senior tax and policy professional and organisational leader is unique in dedicating his 40 year career to public service in the Inland Revenue and latterly HM Revenue and Customs

Peter Hugh Gordon Schofield CB, who has dedicated his 40-year career to public service in the Inland Revenue and HM Revenue and Customs, and Peter Hugh Gordon Schofield CB, who has held a long Civil Service career as Permanent Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Karen Buck, a health researcher and campaign strategy coordinator, joined the Labour Party in 1987 and became a campaign strategy coordinator in 1992. She served as MP for Regent’s Park and Kensington North until 2010, and then Westminster North. Between 2013 and 2015, she served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband.

Tracey Karim Emin, a Royal Academician, is a major figure in contemporary art for over 25 years and is known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork.

Ffion Lywelyn, the Lady Hage of Richmond, is the founder of Independent Board Evaluation and is one of the UK’s leading board evaluators. She is also a Welsh broadcaster, author, and former civil servant who has played a leading role in promoting Welsh language and culture.

Rebecca Harris, the Member of Parliament for Castle Point since 2010, is responsible for ensuring all Government legislation progresses through Parliament and into law. She has worked as an adviser and has served as a local councillor.

Ana Sarah Seymour Hillmarch, a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Visteon Pensioners, the co-chair of the APPG for Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency, and the Chair of the APPG for Brain Tumours, is a prominent figure in the UK economy.

Fashion designer, Irene Hindmarch, is known for her sustainable fashion and eco-friendly products. She launched the I Am A Plastic Bag collection in 2020, constructing bags from recycled plastic bottles. In 2021, she collaborated with supermarkets to design The Universal Bag, a reusable, fully recyclable shopping bag made from recycled plastic. Hindmarch and her partners aim to share their learnings with global retailers on request to advance progress in the use, reuse, and recycling of shopping bags internationally.

Julia Anne Hogget has provided inspirational leadership in helping restore the role of the UK capital markets and the London Stock Exchange as a major provider of capital to fund innovation, productivity, growth, jobs, and support investors’ returns. She set up and chairs the UK Capital Markets Industry Taskforce to support the modernisation of the UK capital markets and ensured the London Stock Exchange (LSE) remained strong through challenging times.

Professor Karen Margaret Holloway CBE Frenn became the first woman to lead Cranfield University in 2021. Her career spans industry and academia, with research focused on damage assessment using acoustic emission in industrial applications. She serves on the boards of the Oxford- Cambridge arc Universities Group, Oxford Cambridge Supercluster, and Universities UK.

Clare Kelly Montagnant assumed the role of Chief Executive at the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) in 2017, transforming student services and addressing social mobility and vocational priorities. She introduced tools like Clearing Plus and the Hub to support previously marginalised student groups, care leavers, LGBTQ+ individuals, those with disabilities, and others facing mental health challenges.

Devilla Mary Mitchell is one of the UK’s most successful and respected engineering leaders, Deputy Chair of Arup Group, and member of its global group board since 2014. She has worked on iconic projects, including leading the Heathrow T5 design team.

Judith Ian Petts CBE, Under her leadership, the University of Plymouth has been recognized as one of the world’s top five universities for marine science and engineering, receiving the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for marine microplastics research in 2019 and being shortlisted as the University of the Year in the 2022 Times Higher Education Awards. She has built on the University’s economic impact, delivering £819m of output to the UK economy each year.

Hannah Mary Rothschild CBE is a leading philanthropist, granting over £100 million per year personally and through her family’s two foundations. She is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker, best-selling novelist, and journalist.

Jasminder Kumar Sanghera CBE is a national and international expert on forced marriage (FM) and honour-based abuse (HBA), constantly seeking to help victims and survivors and raise awareness of their plight. She helps shape and inform government policy, championing four new laws, and providing testimony for FM legislation in Canada, Australia, the EU, and the US. Her campaign in support of repatriated victims of FM led to an HMG policy change in 2019.

Professor Janice Debra Sigwell CBE is Chief Nurse at Imperial College Healthcare Trust and was recognized in 2018 with a CBE for her services to nursing. She is the national professional lead for embedding genomics into nursing and midwifery practice and has taken responsibility on a national basis to strengthen the delivery of the genomics by actively influencing the inclusion of senior nursing leadership in Genomic Medicine Services Alliances and leading the nursing and midwifery genomics agenda at a regional and national level.

Imelda Maria BERNADETTE STAUNTON CBE is a multi-award winning actress, known for her roles in Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, and Pride. She has been a Patron of Richard House Children’s Hospice since 2005 and Greenfingers, a charity that creates gardens for children’s hospices. She is also patron of Breathe Arts Health Research and an Ambassador for the homeless charity CRISIS.

Dr. Helen Mary Stephenson, the longest-serving Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, has been instrumental in ensuring meaningful change in how charities are governed and held to account. She has sought closer ties with sector bodies, overseen casework, and managed historic backlogs. Under her leadership, the Commission has supported trustees to run their charities well with clear and simple guidance.

Evelyn May Taylor Obe, 92, is still leading her company, which is recognised as the UK’s leading professional-use beauty industry name. She has pioneered online education for students during Covid and has helped the UK beauty industry’s recognition overseas with training initiatives in numerous countries. She has been nominated for the Guild Awards for Excellence in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Professor Morial Katherine Brigid Wolfe Obe has a formidable record of academic leadership and clinical service, being an exemplary role model for women in medical and scientific leadership. She was Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine 2017-23 and Chair of the MRC Training and Careers Group 2017-23. She has been instrumental in national policy work reviewing scientific training pathways, resulting in improved support for both clinical and non-clinical scientists.

Alan Bates has been Knighted for his part in bringing to light one of the biggest miscarriages of justice ever seen in British history. Following the Post Office’s introduction of its Horizon computer system, he fell into dispute about the branch accounts. He began to challenge the Post Office about the Horizon system’s reliability. In March 2022, the Government agreed to provide an additional compensation scheme for GPO group members. Alan has committed twenty years of his life to his campaign, describing it as an unpaid full-time job.

Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Sector Management at King’s College London, sits as a crossbench peer in the Lords specialising in the relationship between education and the labour market. He has helped drive skills reforms, supported policy development, and co-ordinated cross-government agreement for the Lifelong Learning Entitlement and the introduction of Free Courses for Jobs and Skills Bootcamps and Local Skills Improvement Plans.

Robert Frederick Beherens CBE, former Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), has been instrumental in stabilizing the NHS and restoring staff morale. He has developed new Complaint Standards for Government and the NHS, supported organisations to embed a culture that learns from complaints, and championed learning in Ombudsman offices around the world. Beherens has also called for a review on NHS leadership and made robust recommendations in serious health and citizen rights cases.

Wayne David, elected to public office in 1985, served as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Wales Office between October 2008 and May 2010. He then served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband. He is currently the Shadow Minister for the Middle East and North Africa.

Richard Philip Dugalas CB, former DH DG of Finance, played a key role in the Department of Health’s reforms, such as Foundation Trusts, Independent Sector Treatment Centres, and Payment by Results, transforming waiting time performance. His financial planning and strategy set the tone for the NHS’s most successful period ever in achieving major waiting time targets and much improved clinical outcomes.

Niall Campbell Ferguson, author of sixteen books, has been recognized for his contributions to the field of history, politics, and economics. He has won numerous awards, including the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service (2010), the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism (2013), and Columnist of the Year at the 2018 British Press Awards.

Richard Cecili Greenhill, founding Chair of the National College for School Leadership, established it nationally and internationally as a renowned centre for educational leadership development. He chaired British Youth Opera and established a music scholarship at Cambridge University. Under his chairmanship, United Learning’s scale transformed from 43 academies to 80 by September 2023, with approximately 10,000 employees and educating around 65,000 pupils.

Professor Tony Kouzarides FMedsi FRS has made a significant global impact on disease treatment and positively transformed the way academics engage with healthcare businesses. He co-founded Abcam Ltd, Storm Therapeutics, Milner Therapeutics Institute, Conquer Cancer, and was honoured with the first ever Excellence in Science Medal by the President of Cyprus.

Nicolas Stephen Leonard Lyons has combined business success with driving social and gender diversity in the workplace. His vision to harness the success of the financial sector to benefit the broader economy is widely praised.