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New Year Honours List 2023: High Awards (HTML)

Published 30 December 2022

Companion of Honour

Dame Mary QUANT DBE

She opened her first shop Bazaar in the Kings Road in 1955 and is credited with conceiving the mini skirt and hot pants popular culture of ‘The Chelsea Girl’. A retrospective exhibition celebrating her achievements was staged at the V&A in 2019-2020, highlighting the revolution of the whole fashion system making British street style the global influence it remains today. Throughout the 60s she extended her influence internationally into ready-to-wear garments, accessories and cosmetics and, in 1966, she was awarded an OBE for services to the fashion industry. In 1970 she was commissioned to stimulate the home interiors market and successfully revolutionised furnishings for modern living. In 2000, a Japanese company bought Mary Quant Limited, and now there are almost 150 Mary Quant Colour shops in Japan. She is a fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers, and winner of the Minerva Medal, the Society’s highest award.

Professor Sir Michael Gideon MARMOT

He is among the top 50 most highly cited researchers in the world and is the most highly cited in the field of social determinants of health. His principles in the 2010 landmark report Fair Society Healthy Lives provide an evidence-based framework for addressing health inequalities. Its recommendations were adopted by the UK 2010 Public Health White Paper and have had a major influence on public health action and local authority planning ever since. He advises the Director General of the WHO. He chaired the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health; the European Review of Social Determinants and the Health Divide; the Pan American Health Organisation Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas; the Commission on Social Determinants of Health in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region; and supports the development of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Institute of Health Equity. His report Build Back Fairer was the most comprehensive early assessment of how Covid-19 exacerbated existing health inequalities.

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)

Sir Thomas Whinfield SCHOLAR KCB

As Permanent Secretary to the Treasury (2016-22) Tom Scholar has been one of the most influential civil servants of recent times. He led the Treasury through many challenges, including the Covid pandemic, which saw unprecedented policy innovation, for example the furlough scheme. He led the Government’s response to the global financial crisis from 2008. He has also had a distinguished international career, representing the UK at the IMF and the World Bank, as well as at the G7, G20 and European Union as personal representative of the Prime Minister. But his greatest achievement as a civil servant was as an inspirational leader of the Treasury, getting the best from the talented staff who work there, with the department repeatedly ranked as the top-performing major department in the annual civil service staff survey.

Dame and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE)

Professor Sir Partha Sarathi DASGUPTA

He is the leading global figure in the economics of the natural environment, spearheading academic leadership into international government programmes to measure sustainable growth. He was knighted in 2002 and his contributions to the discipline have only continued to expand since then. He created an Inclusive Wealth Framework to incorporate both Human and Natural Capital in national accounts which underpinned World Bank global guidelines shaping UN Sustainable Development Goals. His recent work on the Economics of Biodiversity (2021) has resulted in a robust and compelling case for embedding biodiversity and natural capital into financial and economic decision-making, influencing tens of thousands of people and establishing the UK as a global intellectual leader. In 2021, he was the first economist awarded the Kew International Medal. As a result of his vision, constant innovation in unifying economics and the environment, his prolific record of research and publications and his efforts to translate his ideas into real-world impact, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (2004), and received The Blue Planet Prize (2015), the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2016), and the European Lifetime Achievement Award in Environmental Economics (2014).

Professor Dame Hermione LEE DBE FBA FRSL

She is a scholar, teacher, distinguished biographer and literary critic. Her books include biographies of Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, Penelope Fitzgerald and Tom Stoppard. She was awarded the Biographers’ Club Prize for Exceptional Contribution to Biography in 2018 and received the BIO Award 2020 from the Biographers International Organisation. She became the first woman Goldsmiths’ Professor of English Literature at Oxford in 1998. In 2008 she became the first woman President of Wolfson College, Oxford. Under her stewardship it became one of Oxford’s largest graduate colleges, with 600 students. She founded the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing at Wolfson College, which has a national and international reputation both as a significant interdisciplinary cultural presence, and as a unique hub of activities related to all kinds of life-writing, reaching out to people and communities beyond the University.

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)

Dr John Stuart BENGER

Despite the unprecedented procedural, logistical and human challenges he faced in his role as Clerk of The House of Commons since 2019, he and his team emerged from the Brexit debates with their reputation for impartial and expert advice enhanced. He led Parliament through and out of the Covid-19 pandemic, providing the strategic direction for this work, enabling the House to continue to function effectively. As Clerk, he ensured that the House agreed to the recommendation that judgements and sanctions in relation to complaints of bullying and harassment should be completely independent of MPs despite significant opposition - a recent survey reports that staff confidence improved dramatically. He introduced a direct graduate recruitment scheme with BME representation rising from two in the previous 15 years, to eight recruited in three years, with candidates of the highest calibre.

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)

Dawn Elizabeth CHILDS FRENG

She joined the RAF straight from school, becoming the first female Senior Engineering Officer in several roles. She left to become Head of Engineering at Gatwick Airport, responsible for all the infrastructure and technical services at the airport. She joined Merlin Entertainments plc in 2016 covering the governance and safety standards and practices for a global portfolio of over 120 theme parks and attractions. In 2019 she became UK Change Director for National Grid leading the transformation required to meet efficiency expectations whilst still delivering to net zero. In 2013, she was awarded the CBI/Real Business First Women Award in recognition of her pivotal role at Gatwick. In 2014, she was made an Honorary Doctor of Science by Staffordshire University for services to engineering and recognised as one of the Barclays Women of Achievement for 2014. In 2015, she was presented with the Alastair Graham Bryce Award by the Institution of Mechanical Engineering. She was elected President of the Women’s Engineering Society in 2018 and made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2020.

Professor Lyn CHITTY

She is the UK’s only Professor of Fetal Medicine and Genetics and her research is internationally renowned. She developed the charts of fetal size (with Doug Altman) that are in use across the country to monitor a baby’s development during pregnancy. She integrated genetics into her clinical and research work, pioneering the development of non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis that enables parents to have increased knowledge about their unborn baby’s health and risk of developing rare genetic conditions. NHS England is now commissioning these tests as part of the new Genomic Medicine Service. These tests are being used worldwide. She led the regional development of the genomic medicine service across North London, having collaborated with clinicians and scientists to become the most successful Genomic Medicine Centre in the country, enrolling over 20,000 people into the ground-breaking 100,000 Genomes project.

Nicola Whitmont DANDRIDGE CBE

She was the first CEO of the universities regulator, the Office for Students (OfS) (2018 to April 2022), leading the transition to a new regulatory regime for higher education in England. She established the OfS and its regulatory framework, before overseeing the registration of over 400 universities and colleges into the new regulatory environment. She led the organisation through its first crucial years of operation to establish it as a competent, trusted and robust new regulator yielding 1.2% of the UK GDP and receiving over £8.5 billion in research income. Her focus was on protecting students’ interests, while ensuring the sector continues to be financially stable and well governed. She oversaw and promoted the access and participation agenda and equality of opportunities with record numbers of disadvantaged students participating in higher education.

Sally DICKETTS CBE

She is a leading board member of the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) since 2017, driving innovation, evidence-based teaching, adaptive leadership and inclusive practice. She became President of The Association of Colleges in 2020, providing strong leadership to over 220 colleges particularly during the pandemic. She plays a leading role on the steering group of the ETF’s Senior Leadership Development Programmes delivered in partnership with Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. She mentors newer principals and is also a regular ‘star contributor’ to the Prep for CEO programme at Oxford. She was Chair of the Women’s Leadership Network and AoC’s Employment Committee, leading on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion. In 2013, she successfully divested Reading College from Thames Valley University, embracing it into Oxford & Cherwell Valley College creating a new, larger, college group ‘Activate Learning’ to include: four University Technical Colleges; two secondary schools; an apprenticeship training provider; workplace training/consulting; and a specialist engineering training provider. In 2019, she successfully led Activate Learning through further substantial growth, including mergers with Bracknell & Wokingham College and The Guildford College Group.

Anita FREW

She was appointed Chair of the aero-engine group Rolls-Royce in October 2021, becoming the first woman to be appointed to that role in the 115-year history of the company. She is also Chair of chemicals and life sciences group Croda and was the first woman to chair two FTSE 100 companies simultaneously. Previously, she was Deputy Chair and Senior Independent Director (SID) of Lloyds; Chair of polymer maker Victrex; NED of BHP Group; NED of Northumbrian Water, SID of Aberdeen Asset Management and IMI; and Executive Director of Abbott Mead Vickers and Director of WPP Group. When she was appointed a non-executive Director (NED) of Lloyds Banking Group in 2010 she was one of only two women on the board of the bank. She has been a pro bono NED of various artistic organisations including Donmar Warehouse and the Gate Theatre, as well as Chair of the Centre for the Modern Family and being a member of the PM’s Business Council.

Denise LEWIS OBE

She was the No 1 British athlete during the late 1990s and into the new millennium. She won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was twice Commonwealth Games champion, was the 1998 European Champion and the first European to win the Olympic heptathlon. Since retiring from athletics, she is now a regular athletics pundit for BBC Television, including during London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. In 2014, she was presented with an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton. In 2015, she became the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for her services to sport and her work with children’s medical research charity, Sparks. For the past 15 years she has also been actively involved with the charity Breast Cancer Now. In 2016, she shared her insight into being black and British in the series Black Is The New Black and she also presented Winners for BBC Two. She was included in the 2019 edition of the Powerlist, ranking the 100 most influential Black Britons. She has been President of Commonwealth Games England since 2015 and led Team England at the Gold Coast in 2018. In 2022, she led Team England again as the games returned to her home of the West Midlands.

Dr Julie Katherine MAXTON CBE

In 2011, she was appointed Executive Director of the Royal Society, promoting scientific excellence and the application of science for human benefit. During the pandemic, the RS mobilised quickly to bring together hundreds of scientists and analysts to advise in support of the national response. The National Academy of Sciences in the US describes her as a highly regarded scholar in law, science policy, and judicial education. Her work on legal aspects of global-warming is presented at international conferences and she has been a catalyst in ensuring British forensic science is world-leading. In 2015 she oversaw an international conference Paradigm Shift for UK Forensic Science bringing together scientists and the forensics community with immense impact: a £10m Leverhulme grant; landmark world class judicial primers and working with UKRI on gaps in forensic science funding. Her visionary approach has changed the national and international relationship between scientists and the legal profession.

Professor Heather MCGREGOR CBE FRSE

She joined Heriot-Watt in 2016 as Executive Dean of Edinburgh Business School where she brought new life to Scotland’s oldest distance learning MBA programme. During her tenure tens of thousands of students in over 160 countries have been recruited to the reinvigorated programme. Her vision-to-completion of the Panmure House restoration in the heart of Edinburgh secured its legacy for Scotland and it is now a world-leading centre for thought leadership, offering a unique speaking platform in Scotland’s capital for global academics and business leaders. She introduced the Panmure House prize, which provides funding for research into long term capital attracting submissions from all over the world. Her continued service to charities supporting employment and minority ethnic careers has supported young people including many from across Scotland. Her commitment to creating opportunities for all also led to initiatives such as an MBA programme being delivered in a refugee camp in Lebanon, and the establishment of an early-stage business incubator. She continues to support and mentor women’s careers in and out of academia. She has personally embodied excellence, diversity, and promoted the importance of heritage, higher education, and professional qualifications for the development and caring of others.

Virginia MCKENNA OBE

She set up the Born Free Foundation (BFF) in 1984 with her late husband, Bill Travers MBE, and their eldest son, Will Travers OBE, to ensure wild animal welfare and compassionate conservation. She helped to implement the UK’s Animal Welfare Act 2006. She lobbied MPs/MEPs in 2010 for the successful inclusion of wild animals in captivity in the EU Action Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals 2011–2015. She worked with the UK travel industry to provide vital support in the launch of their animal welfare policies in 2018. She campaigned to stop the use of wild animals in travelling circuses, culminating in a ban in England in 2019. Her fight against the ivory trade was instrumental in the implementation of the Ivory Act in the UK in June 2022. She opened the Born Free Forever Exhibition in 2022 to raise awareness and vital funds for lion conservation work. The BFF has active projects in over 15 countries. She is a patron of the Cinnamon Trust, providing aid to vulnerable people in keeping their pets.

Professor Cathryn NUTBROWN

Her contributions to policy development in England, 2011-12, chairing the Independent Review on qualifications of the early years workforce known as The Nutbrown Review is still referenced as the definitive analysis of the requirements for high quality early years workers. In 2013 her family literacy research was awarded the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) prize for Outstanding Impact on Society and continues to influence early years practice. She has supervised over 100 masters’ and 30 doctoral students’ studies in early childhood education and many of her publications are required reading in UK universities. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Early Childhood Research and has served on the editorial boards of other journals in her field. She has served as referee for Research Council funding bodies and for 19 academic journals and publishers. She is Honorary President of The British Association for Early Childhood Education.

Norma REDFEARN CBE

She served as headteacher of West Walker Primary School in Newcastle Upon Tyne and was credited with turning the school and local community around. She became the first head teacher to be awarded The Public Management Leadership prize in 1997 and the Think Tank Demos chose to highlight her work as a leading example of civic entrepreneurship. After teaching, she chose to devote her life to politics, serving as the Cabinet Member for children and young people services on North Tyneside council between 2005 and 2009 - these services are now considered some of the best in the country. She was elected to serve as mayor of North Tyneside in 2013 and in 2017. North Tyneside currently has some of the best schools in the country, is business focused and is delivering major regeneration projects under her leadership.

Alison ROSE

She is the first female CEO of NatWest Group and author of a Government commissioned Review of Female Entrepreneurship leading to the establishment of the Investing in Women Code which has been adopted by The World Bank. She has championed the Dream Bigger programme, an entrepreneurial coaching platform supporting 15,000 young women. She steered NatWest’s response to the pandemic with a £5bn Coronavirus Working Capital Fund for business lending under Government schemes and established £2bn of funding for female entrepreneurs to help them tackle the economic effects of the crisis. Under her leadership, NatWest became a founding signatory of the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s Principles for Responsible Banking as well as founding members of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero and the Net Zero Banking Alliance in 2021. As part of its COP26 Principal Sponsorship role, she led the GFANZ workstream on corporate sector transition strategies setting NatWest an ambitious 50% science-based decarbonisation target for 2030, a global leader in retail and SME business banking.

Professor Robina SHAH MBE JP DL

She is considered one of the country’s leading patient care experts based on a track record of achievement including the international recommendations she helped develop for WHO, which were adopted as a set of standards for the UK.

In 2011, the PM appointed her to the NHS Futures Forum which developed the revised NHS Constitution and the “NHS’s role in the public’s health”. She established the first national patients’ safety ambassadors training programme for NHS Trust Boards and her work is cited in the 2015 joint Medical Schools Council and General Medical Council Report “First Do No Harm”. She informed recommendations for the 2014 Care Act and 2015 Children and Families Act. In 2015, she co-authored Tackling Disability Hate Crime and Disability Discrimination. Her recommendations became the basis of the 2016 Government strategic action plan on hate crime, requiring full implementation by local government, the police and NHS. She established the first ever UK medical school’s patient partnership collaboration, a network open to over 40 medical schools, dedicated to patient centred education.

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire

The Chief Rabbi Ephraim MIRVIS

He has been Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth since 2013 and a pioneer of interfaith activity since his days as a congregational Rabbi. He has initiated Jewish-Muslim community engagement projects and created the ‘In Good Faith’ programme in partnership with the Archbishop of Canterbury, bringing together Anglican and Jewish clergy. He addresses global events with his vision of a ‘Judaism of Responsibility’ intervening, for example, on the plight of Uyghur Muslims, the only such intervention by a global faith leader. He has been an advocate for greater inclusivity in Orthodox Jewish life, appointing Britain’s first female halachic adviser and establishing greater opportunities for female leadership and scholarship. In the field of education, the Chief Rabbi has championed the cause of faith schools and Jewish education and issued a guide on the well-being of LGBT+ pupils in Orthodox Jewish schools - the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

Knights Bachelor

John AKOMFRAH CBE

He was a co-founder of the pioneering Black Audio Film Collective in the 1980s. He documented the consequences of the 1985 Handsworth Riots in Birmingham in his award-winning 1986 film, Handsworth Songs. Since being made a CBE in 2017, he has been exhibiting at major museums worldwide, winning the world’s biggest art prize, the Artes Mundi. He presented his largest film installation to date, Purple, in 2017 at the Barbican in London addressing climate change, human communities and the wilderness. He debuted his work Mimesis: African Soldier in 2018 at the Imperial War Museum in London. In 2019, he participated in the inaugural, critically acclaimed Ghana Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, with his latest work Four Nocturnes. In 2022, on its 10th anniversary, his filmic art installation The Unfinished Conversation was remounted as part of Birmingham 2022 Festival. He has an exemplary record in pro bono governance, including the boards of the British Film Institute and Film London, and in education.

Professor Louis APPLEBY CBE

Since 1996, he has been Director of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH), a world-leading unit on safety in mental health services. He chairs the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) Advisory Group, advising the Government on suicide prevention. He led the first NSPS for England with subsequent revisions in 2012 and 2016. Since 2018, he has led a Quality Improvement Programme for NHS England to implement findings from the NCISH into every mental health service in the country. He has led the national suicide prevention response to Covid and advised government on issues including suicide surveillance and mental health and public health interventions. He was National Clinical Director for Mental Health and then National Clinical Director for Health and Criminal Justice (NCDHCJ). He oversaw the first reform of the Mental Health Act for 20 years which brought in new safeguards and treatment powers in the community. He implemented the Bradley Report which outlined how mental health and the criminal justice system might work better together.

Ian BAUCKHAM CBE

He led the creation of Oak National Academy and, in his role as Chair, more than 2 million children per week were supported during the pandemic, making it a permanent fixture in the school’s system. As Chair of Ofqual, he steered the country to successful GCSEs, A-Levels, Technical Award qualifications last summer while delivering a full return to exams this summer. He chaired DFE’s Initial Teacher Training Reform, the single biggest reform to initial teacher training in the country’s history delivering on time and helping to reshape the teacher training market in the best interests of pupils and teachers at a national level. He has previously been the government’s expert adviser on PSHE, expert adviser on language education and expert adviser on curriculum to Ofsted, making significant contributions to education each time. He is also CEO of Tenax Schools Trust.

Professor Vernon BOGDANOR CBE FBA

He is the preeminent interpreter of the British constitution. He received the Political Studies Association’s Sir Isaiah Berlin Award for Lifetime Contribution to Political Studies; named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur; elected to the Academy of the Social Sciences and awarded an Honorary D. Litt. from Kent University. He has codified the unwritten principles of the British constitution in the rapidly changing political environment. His 800+ page volume is the first and most authoritative survey of the British constitution in the 20th century. He became Visiting Professor at Yale University, where his lectures became a book contributing to helping more citizens across the world participate in functioning democracy through new constitutions and/or electoral systems. He gave the Stimson lectures at Yale which resulted in a book on Britain’s relations with Europe. He has been a member of the Council of the Hansard Society and, in 2008, received the Sir Isaiah Berlin Award by the Political Studies Association for Lifetime Contribution to Political Studies. He was awarded the Legion d’Honneur by President Sarkozy. He has served as Gresham Chair in Law, Honorary Bencher at the Middle Temple and Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, all while teaching at Oxford and then at King’s. He has also advised numerous foreign governments on constitutional and electoral matters.

Chris BRYANT MP

He was ordained in the Church of England in December 1986 but left the Church in 1991 to start work for the Labour Party, becoming Chair of the Christian Socialist Movement. He chaired the Labour Movement for Europe 2002-07 and became Deputy Leader of the House of Commons in 2008. In 2009, he moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and was appointed Minister for Europe. He has consistently led calls within Parliament for sanctions against regimes guilty of corruption and human rights abuses. He is co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Magnitsky Sanctions.

He called for higher standards in the media through the Leveson Inquiry following the phone hacking scandal. Since 2021, he has co-chaired the government programme board on a national strategy for Acquired Brain Injury. He is currently Chair of the Commons Committee on Standards and has been instrumental in making the independent complaints and grievance service work within Parliament and in updating the code of conduct for MPs.

Professor Ian Trevelyan CHAPMAN

He has driven the UK’s fusion programme to be a world leader in the race to transform and develop clean energy. As CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), he transformed the organisation to include new commercial areas such as robotics and materials. During Brexit, he enabled the UK based Joint European Torus to continue operating, saving over 600 jobs whilst providing critical science for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor collaboration. In 2019 he was elected Chair of the International Atomic Energy Authority‘s fusion research committee. He is a member of the IEA Fusion Power Coordinating Committee; he is a Member of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Advisory Board (DOE National Lab); ‘NED’ Guernsey Electricity Limited; Clean Energy Adviser to Temasek Holdings, Singapore; Chinese Academy of Science Fusion International Advisory Committee; EUROfusion General Assembly Member (for the single largest EU collaborative grant). He previously served on the UK Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board and the UK Government Nuclear Industry Council.

John CRABTREE OBE DL

He was appointed as Chair of the Organising Committee (OC) for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in 2018. He built a committed team, weathered unexpected challenges and kept the numerous Games partners strongly aligned despite only a 4-year planning and delivery window compared with the normal 7 years. Notwithstanding the pandemic and a difficult labour and commodity market, the Games were delivered on time and within the original budget, and showcased the best of the UK to the Commonwealth and the World. Birmingham 2022 was the fastest Games delivered in modern times; the greenest Games with a carbon neutral ambition; and the most inclusive Games. He holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Aston; Birmingham; and Birmingham City. Since January 2017 he has been the Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands, the second largest lieutenancy, supporting a population of nearly 3 million people.

Roland Francis Kester KEATING

As Chief Executive, he has transformed the British Library in its engagement with people and communities. He has overseen the historic expansion of legal deposit to cover digital publishing and the web domain, adding vital new research collections to the national record of UK life for future generations. He oversaw the opening of the National Newspaper Building; the incorporation into the Library of the Public Lending Right function; and the launches of the national network of Business and IP Centres (BIPCs) to support UK entrepreneurs, and the Living Knowledge Network (LKN) of public and national libraries. These achievements flow from Living Knowledge, the strategy he introduced in 2015, charting a course for the Library’s 50th anniversary in 2023. He is leading a rebalancing of the Library towards the North of England, with a vision to transform access for people in the region. He served on the Independent Review of Public Libraries and played a central role in establishing the Knowledge Quarter. He is a Clore Leadership Programme Trustee, a Channel 4 Board member, and chairs the Towards a National Collection steering committee. He chaired the Conference of European National Librarians for six years (2015-21).

Professor Mayur Keshavji LAKHANI CBE

He is one of the most highly regarded and consistent medical leaders of his generation. In 2007, he was awarded a CBE following his term as the youngest ever Chair (and leader) of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). Over 15 years since, he has provided visible leadership as Chair of The National Council for Palliative Care; President of the RCGP; Chair of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management; and in senior NHS roles. He was the first BAME doctor to be the leader of the RCGP and one of only ten GPs to achieve the distinction of being both Chair and President. As Chair of NCPC and Dying Matters Coalition, he undertook critical work to transform the care of the dying. As President of RCGP, he launched a dynamic President’s Listening Campaign to counter low morale amongst GPs. He has inspired a new generation of GPs with applications for GP training at an all-time high with markedly increased diversity. He chaired the NHS Midlands COVID-19 and Influenza Board in 2020-2021, which supported the mass vaccination campaign in 11 integrated care systems (ICS) to deliver 13.1 million vaccination doses (one of the highest achieving regions).

Rt Hon Dr Julian LEWIS MP

He has served as the Member of Parliament for New Forest East for 25 years and has been at the forefront of the debate on the UK’s defence and security for over three decades. Throughout his time on the backbenches he has contributed to Parliament’s work on security and defence through his chairmanship of the Defence Select Committee and his ongoing chairmanship of the Intelligence and Security Committee - the first parliamentarian to chair both these committees. He has also served as a member of the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, the Committees on Arms Export Controls, and the Liaison Committee. He is the author of two books and many articles on defence history and strategy. Before entering Parliament he served for three years in the Royal Naval reserve at the rank of Seaman. He also spent 10 years running speaking and campaigning courses, training more than 600 Conservatives in campaigning and communications techniques.

Professor Peter MATHIESON

Under his direction, the University of Edinburgh has reached its highest ever position in the QS World University Rankings. The University’s Data Driven Innovation (DDI) initiative, a 15-year programme supported by capital funding from UK and Scottish Governments has flourished with over 1100 jobs in construction and start-ups; providing the data foundation for regional and national research into COVID-19; establishing an Advanced Care Research Centre to transform care in later life; securing a $7m donation from the Human Dignity Foundation to set up a global Data Institute for Child Safety. He was Impact Champion for the United Nations Equality HeforShe initiative promoting equal opportunities and freedom of expression. As an advocate for global consensus, he has brought together those leading the US and Chinese COVID-19 response strategies, Dr Anthony Fauci and Dr Nanshan Zhong, to engage in dialogue at the Edinburgh Futures Conversation on Global Health. He is a Board Member of Universities UK, the Russell Group and the Scottish Funding Council.

Dr Brian Harold MAY CBE

Brian May is an acclaimed musician and songwriter, founding member of the rock group Queen. In 2020 he was named Greatest Guitarist of All Time by Total Guitar Magazine. Queen’s performance at Live Aid in 1985 is acknowledged as the greatest live set in history. He famously opened The Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002 performing live on Buckingham Palace roof – and 20 years later returned to open the Platinum Jubilee concert atop the Victoria Monument. He is also an accomplished astrophysicist, now attached as stereoscopist to many NASA Space exploration teams. He re-established the London Stereoscopic Company in 2008, was co-founder of Asteroid Day in 2015, for the protection of Earth from asteroid strikes, and was Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University from 2008-2013. His work defending Britain’s wild animals led him to found the Save-Me Trust in 2009, which is his continuing passion, campaigning for the rights of foxes and badgers, and hosting an active wildlife rescue operation.

Ivan Manuel MENEZES

He is one of Britain’s longest serving FTSE Chief Executives and has transformed Diageo into the world’s leading premium drinks company, accounting for 10% (£2bn) of the UK’s total food and drinks exports. Diageo is one of the world’s leading companies on sustainability, receiving a Double A rating for Water Security and Climate Change and is committed to Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030. He champions for both women and the BAME community in British business and today, 42% of Diageo’s senior leadership positions globally are held by women, while 37% are ethnically diverse. In November 2020, he announced £1bn of investment in sustainability and community initiatives and to tackle alcohol related harm. He was Chairman of Movement to Work from 2017-20, a UK voluntary organisation committed to tackling youth unemployment delivering 100,000 structured work placements for young people, with over 55% of participants securing permanent jobs. He is also a member of the British-Asian Trust’s Founders Circle. During the pandemic, he produced more than 10 million bottles of hand sanitiser for healthcare workers around the world (including the NHS).

Robin MILLAR CBE

He has organised fundraising events for various charities including Oxfam, UNICEF, UNHCR, the British Lung Foundation, CALM and the Jo Cox Foundation to name but a few, which together generated millions of pounds. He is Chair of the national disability charity Scope and currently he is leading a campaign for the Government to deliver a National Disability Strategy. He is a founding director of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, widening access and embedding a diversity and inclusion agenda, having worked with Further Education Colleges across the UK as a mentor and public speaker. As a blind person in the music industry, he has trained and inspired hundreds of young people. As Group Chair of Blue Raincoat Chrysalis Group, he employs over 40% of people with protected characteristics. He was closely involved with the creation of the first 10,000 Creative Apprenticeships by Creative & Cultural Skills.

Grayson PERRY CBE

He is an award-winning artist, writer and broadcaster, commenting upon contemporary society and universal human issues such as identity, sexuality and gender. He is of international renown, with recent solo exhibitions showing across the globe. In 2015, he was appointed Trustee of the British Museum and Chancellor of the University of the Arts London, and received a Royal Institute of British Architects Honorary Fellowship in 2016. His television work includes a three-part documentary series about identity called Who Are You?. Another series in 2018 explored masculinity, entitled Grayson Perry: All Man. During the pandemic, he presented Grayson’s Art Club from his home studio encouraging viewers to produce and share their own lockdown artworks. He became the first British visual artist since Henry Moore in 1968, to win the prestigious Erasmus Prize, an award for exceptional contribution to humanities, social science or arts. He has donated many artworks for charitable causes including the Felix Project, the Extraordinary Collection, Transplant Links Community and Koestler Arts.

Dr Martin READ CBE

Chief Executive of international IT services company Logica from 1993-2007, he was appointed chair of Laird, an international business with 10,000 employees and a market leader in wireless, controls and performance materials. Since 2018 he has chaired Wincanton plc, the largest British logistics company, providing supply chain solutions to leading UK retail, defence, energy and construction businesses. He was an active member of the UK Government Efficiency and Reform Board, driving improvement of around £45bn per annum of commercial spend. He carried out a major review of management information across the public sector, saving more than £50bn over the period. He was appointed Chair to set up and lead the Low Carbon Contracts Company and the Electricity Settlements Company, which oversee around £70bn of government contracts for renewable energy - both companies were successfully launched on time and have been key to the success of the electricity market reform programme. He was Chair of the UK Government Senior Salaries Review Body until 2022, has chaired the Cambridge University Library Advisory Committee and has been a long-serving trustee of the Winchester Science Centre.

Luke Philip Hardwick RITTNER CBE

He has been Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) since 1999, transforming it into the world’s leading dance education and training organisations with activities in almost 90 countries. His work in championing the Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition, staged in a different country each year, has been crucial in enhancing the global reputation of the RAD. He retires from the RAD in 2022, having steered the organisation through its centenary celebrations and into a state-of-the-art purpose-built headquarters. His career in the arts has spanned almost 53 years, blazing a trail in the development of corporate arts support and, as the youngest ever Secretary General of the Arts Council of Great Britain, presiding over a major realignment of UK arts funding from London to the regions, establishing the first budget dedicated to minority ethnic arts. His other roles include Trustee of the Bath Theatre Royal, Trustee of the Bath Preservation Trust, Trustee of the V&A Museum, Chair, the English Shakespeare Company, Chair, London Choral Society and Chair for 24 years of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

William George ROBERTSON CBE DL

He founded one of the UK’s largest family owned construction, house-building and facilities management businesses, employing over 3,000 people with an annual turnover in excess of £800m. His companies operate across the UK in many different market sectors including education, healthcare, defence, housing, tourism, leisure and other industrial and commercial industries. High profile Robertson projects include, The TECA Event Complex, Aberdeen, a £333m major arena, hotel and leisure development, the, £100m Atlantic Building hangar facility at RAF Lossiemouth for the new Poseidon aircraft and the Venturer building for Babcock at Rosyth, to support the UK’s Type 31 frigate construction programme. The company was named Contractor of the Year in 2019. His companies are committed to high standards of ESG and have ambitious targets to decarbonise construction and the built environment. His business was certified climate positive last year and was involved in the construction of the “COP 26 House” - a demonstrator home project to showcase net zero carbon construction in housebuilding. He is a former President of the Scottish Builders Employers Federation, and is a retired deputy lord lieutenant of Moray. He is a keen supporter of various charities including the Armed forces charity, supporting the Gurkha Welfare Trust, the Vine Trust and The Moray Emergency Relief Fund during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Keith SKEOCH

He has been Chair of the Investment Association, contributing extensively to government work through the Asset Management Taskforce, culminating in a report in November 2020. In October 2020, he was interim Chair for the Financial Reporting Council helping to land some of the FRC’s major new initiatives, in particular the new UK Stewardship Code. He chaired a very complex, high-profile, and broad independent review of the UK’s ring-fencing legislation which was published in March 2022, demonstrating leadership in building consensus in the face of strong and diverging views, ensuring that the breadth of these views was reflected in the report. The final report and its recommendations were well received by the Government and industry, with an aim to ensure that the UK’s regulatory framework remains fit for purpose over the long-term. This strong contribution to the public good, given the importance of a well-functioning and adaptive banking framework, protects depositors, taxpayers and the economy from banking crises.