Senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry has been made a dame in the New Year Honours List.
The former shadow foreign secretary said she was ‘both honoured and surprised’ to lead a list of politicians who will receive gongs.
It came after Sir Keir overlooked the MP for Islington South for his first Cabinet after the election. She now chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
She said: ‘I think of my grandmothers, neither of whom were even allowed to work as married women, and think how utterly delighted they’d be to see this.
‘My husband was knighted a few years ago and I never felt comfortable sharing his title, calling myself ‘Lady Nugee’, but Dame Emily is a name I’d be proud to go by.’
She added that she had told her friend, the drag queen Ella Vaday who was appearing in a pantomime that she was to become a dame, prompting her friend to add: ‘Oh fantastic, and where are you on?’
It was also announced that former Tory West Midlands mayor Andy Street, and Nick Gibb, the former long-serving schools minister, will be knighted.
Sir Andy, who was elected as the West Midlands’ first mayor in 2017, said he had only been ‘the front man’ and the honour was ‘an accolade for the people in the West Midlands who made a success of the combined authority and the mayoralty‘.
Emily Thornberry has been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours list
The former shadow foreign secretary said she was ‘both honoured and surprised’ to lead a list of politicians who will receive gongs
It came after Sir Keir overlooked the MP for Islington South for his first Cabinet after the election
He said: ‘Behind it lies a huge endeavour to set this up from scratch and make it the success that it is.
‘It was a huge honour to be able to do that on behalf of citizens across the West Midlands.’
Former MP Ranil Jayawardena, who served as environment secretary under Liz Truss, and former Conservative deputy chief whip Marcus Jones have both been made knights.
Former Labour MP Kate Hollern, who lost her Blackburn seat to Independent candidate Adnan Hussain in July, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Lord Mike Katz, the national chairman of the Jewish Labour Movement who was recently ennobled by Sir Keir, has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Meanwhile, former HSBC boss Noel Quinn, ex-Rolls-Royce chief executive Warren East and Darktrace founder Poppy Gustafsson are among the business leaders handed gongs in the New Years’ Honours list.
Senior banker Quinn has been knighted in recognition of his contribution ‘to financial services and net zero’.
The HSBC veteran, who worked for the bank for 37 years, shocked the City when he stepped down from the top job this year after taking the reins in 2020.
Former mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street has been made a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours list for Public Service
Former Labour MP Kate Hollern, who lost her Blackburn seat to Independent candidate Adnan Hussain in July, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Ranil Jayawardena, lately MP for North East Hampshire, has been made a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours list
Sanjib Bhattacharjee, who has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the community in the London Boroughs of Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest
Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive at HSBC, has been made a Knight Bachelor in the New Year Honours list, for services to Financial Services and to Net Zero
He oversaw a transformation of the lender that included cutting 35,000 jobs and propelling it to record profits last year.
And he fought off an attempt by Chinese insurer Ping An, a major shareholder, to break up the 159-year-old bank.
Announcing his retirement in April, Quinn, 62, said he would have a period of ‘rest and relaxation’ before moving on to a portfolio career, which means taking up directorships in boardrooms.
East, who led engineering giant Rolls-Royce for seven and a half turbulent years, has been knighted for ‘services to the economy and to net zero’. He was previously awarded a CBE in 2014.
His tenure at Rolls-Royce included the Covid-19 pandemic which dealt a hammer blow to the engine maker’s finances.
And East, who was previously the chief executive of chipmaker Arm, also led the business through a major corruption probe related to fraud that occurred before he joined.
Joanne Marie Fitzpatrick, from County Down, Northern Ireland, has been made an MBE for services to peace, reconciliation and sport in the community in Northern Ireland
Margaret Beckett, MP for Derby South, who has been made a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours list, for parliamentary, political and public service
Chief Executive Michael Bloomfield of Northern Ireland Ambulance Service has been made an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year Honours list
Baroness Poppy Gustafsson has been made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year Honours list for services to the Cyber Security Industry
The businessman, 63, quit in 2022, saying it was the right time for him to leave as Rolls-Royce was at ‘an intersection point’.
Since then, he has been appointed as the chairman of UK air traffic services provider NATS and is on the board of semiconductor firm ASML.
Gustafsson, who had already been awarded an OBE in 2019, was yesterday handed a CBE for ‘services to the cyber security industry’.
She co-founded Cambridge-headquartered Darktrace, which uses artificial intelligence in software to protect organisations against online threats, in 2013.
Gustafsson began Darktrace following a two-year stint at Autonomy, the tech company led by the late British billionaire Mike Lynch.
She served as chief executive until September, when she stepped down ahead of a £4bn private equity takeover of the firm.
The following month, Gustafsson – one of the most well-known figures in the UK tech industry – was appointed to government as minister for investment.
Other City figures recognised in the annual awards include Babcock chairman Ruth Cairnie, who becomes a dame, and M&G chairman Edward Braham, who is knighted.
London Stock Exchange Group chairman Don Robert has been given a CBE.
Richard Price, managing director at Marks & Spencer where he oversees its clothing, home and beauty ranges, was made an MBE.