Former Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt becomes a dame

Rhyl Journal

2 days ago

Penny Mordaunt said it was 'lovely to be appreciated in this way' and she was 'feeling very grateful'.
Her profile was boosted by her sword-carrying role as Lord President of the Council during the 2023 coronation ceremony.
Dressed in a custom-made teal outfit with matching cape, and headband with gold feather embroidery, as Lord President of the Council she was responsible for bearing the Sword of State and presenting the Jewelled Sword of Offering to the King, the first time the duty had been carried out by a woman.
Dame Penny told the PA news agency: 'It is lovely to be appreciated in this way, and I'm very conscious that everything I have ever got done has been with the help and efforts of others.
'So I'm feeling very grateful on many counts today.'
The former defence secretary and Commons leader was widely seen as a potential Tory leader until she lost her seat at last year's general election.
In Westminster she had twice challenged for the Conservative leadership, losing to Liz Truss and then pulling out of the race against Rishi Sunak, but her hopes of making it third time lucky were dashed when she lost her Portsmouth North seat.
But she still harbours hopes of staging a political comeback by returning to the Commons.
Sir Mark Tami, who has served as a Labour whip since 2010, has also been awarded a knighthood.
The MP for Alyn and Deeside told the PA news agency that it is a 'great, great honour'.
'When I was told I was shocked,' he said.
'I think most people probably are. It's a great great honour and I'm very very pleased.'
Meanwhile, Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah becomes a dame, and told PA she was 'totally overwhelmed and surprised' when she found out.
'I grew up on a council estate in Newcastle in a one-parent family,' Dame Chi said.
'I never thought about being made a dame, as you can imagine.'
She said she would be 'really proud' to accept it 'on behalf of my constituents'.
Other Westminster figures given honours include Sir Philip Barton, the former top civil servant at the Foreign Office, who becomes a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George.
He was heavily criticised for failing to return from holiday while Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021, as MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee said they had lost confidence in him and suggested he should consider his position.
But he remained in post as permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office until standing down in January this year.
Former Conservative health minister Maria Caulfield becomes a CBE and said she was 'really surprised'.
She told the PA news agency that she has returned to work as a nurse since losing her Lewes seat at last year's general election, and 'when I read the letter I couldn't have been more surprised'.
She added: 'It's nearly a year since the general election so I'd kind of forgotten really about politics and that side of things.'
She said that she was 'really lucky' to have been able to focus on women's health during her time as a minister and was now doing 'gynae cancer research […] doing the hands-on work rather than the policy work'.
Among the changes brought in while Ms Caulfield was in office was the introduction of the baby-loss certificate and the HRT prescription prepayment certificate.
'It's really nice to see that's being recognised and the team that helped us achieve all of that are to thank for a lot of that hard work,' she said