New Year Honours: Gareth Southgate, Stephen Fry, Sadiq Khan and Keely Hodgkinson make this year’s list
Former England manager Gareth Southgate, London mayor Sadiq Khan and actor Stephen Fry have been knighted in the New Year Honours.
Others who have received honours include a host of Team GB athletes – among them gold medal-winning runner Keely Hodgkinson – as well as author Jacqueline Wilson and television presenter Alan Titchmarsh.
Honours have also been awarded to some of the wrongfully convicted sub-postmasters following the Horizon scandal.
Sir Gareth, who has been knighted for services to association football, led the England team to the finals of the Euros in 2020 and 2024, as well as the semi-final of the 2018 World Cup.
However, the Three Lions did not manage to win any tournaments under his leadership, and he resigned following their 2-1 final defeat to Spain in July.
His knighthood matches that earned by Sir Bobby Robson, the last England manager to take a team to the World Cup semis. Fifty-four-year-old Southgate declined to comment on the honour.
Sir Stephen, best known for appearing in Blackadder and hosting quiz show QI, has been recognised for services to mental health awareness, the environment and charity.
The actor has been president of mental health charity Mind since 2011 and also supported the conservation group Fauna and Flora International.
Stephen Fry has been knighted for services to mental health awareness, the environment and charity
He said he was “startled and enchanted” after receiving a letter informing him of the knighthood, adding: “When you are recognised it does make you feel a bit ‘crikey’, but I think the most emotional thing is that when I think of my childhood, and my dreadful unhappiness and misery and stupidity, and everything that led to so many failures as a child.
“And for my parents, really, what a disaster. I mean every time the phone rang, they thought, ‘Oh, God, what has Stephen done now’. It was a sort of joke in the family.”
London mayor Sir Sadiq has been honoured for political and public service, having held his role since 2016.
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London mayor Sadiq Khan said he was ‘humbled’. Pic: PA
He said he was “humbled” to have received a knighthood and “couldn’t have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I would one day be mayor of London“.
“It’s the honour of my life to serve the city I love and I will continue to build the fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London that all of the capital’s communities deserve,” he said.
Conservative London councillor Matthew Goodwin-Freeman launched a petition to “stop” the knighthood which surpassed 200,000 signatures earlier this month.
Beloved author Jacqueline Wilson, who created the Tracy Beaker series, has been made a Dame Grand Cross (GBE) for services to literature.
Jacqueline Wilson has been made a dame. Pic: PA
Actress Carey Mulligan and television presenter Alan Titchmarsh have become Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sir Kazuo Ishiguro is made a Companion of Honour for services to literature, actor Eddie Marsan is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Myleene Klass becomes a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
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A number of gongs also went to athletes following this year’s Paris Olympics, where Team GB won 65 medals, and the Paralympics, where Team ParalympicsGB finished in second place with 49 gold medals.
Twenty-two-year-old Keely Hodgkinson earned an MBE after claiming gold in the 800m at the Olympics, setting a new British record of one minute 54.61 seconds, making her the sixth fastest woman at the distance in history.
Two-time Olympic champion Tom Pidcock, 25, has been made an OBE after winning gold in mountain biking, while Paralympian Hannah Cockroft becomes a CBE after coming first in the T34 100m and 800m.
Tom Pidcock crosses the line to win gold during the men’s cross-country mountain biking. Pic: PA
Other honoured gold-medallists include swimmer Duncan Scott (OBE), sailor Ellie Aldridge (MBE) and rowers Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott, Lauren Henry and Georgie Brayshaw (all MBEs).
Former F1 driver and broadcaster Martin Brundle has become an OBE and former Scotland and Liverpool footballer and BBC pundit Alan Hansen is an MBE.
Sky News royal and events commentator Major General Alastair Bruce has been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath – an honour which recognises the work of senior military officials and civil servants.
Maj Gen Bruce served as an officer of the Scots Guards, including during the Falklands War. Earlier this year, he retired as governor of Edinburgh Castle, a position he had held since June 2019.
Major General Alastair Bruce (left) with the King and Queen at Edinburgh Castle. Pic: PA
As a commentator for Sky News, he has covered numerous state events, including Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022 and the King’s coronation the following year. Most recently, he provided commentary for this year’s Remembrance Day events and the ceremony marking the restoration of Notre Dame in Paris.
Horizon IT scandal victims Lee Castleton, Jo Hamilton, Christopher Head and Seema Misra have been made OBEs for services to justice.
Politicians who received honours include Labour MP Emily Thornberry, who has become a dame, and former West Midlands mayor Andy Street, who has been knighted.
Labour MP Emily Thornberry
The oldest person on the list is 103-year-old World War Two Mosquito pilot Colin Bell, who was given a British Empire Medal (BEM) for charitable fundraising and public speaking.
The youngest to receive honours are 18-year-olds Mikayla Beames, given a BEM for her fundraising efforts supporting children with cancer, and para-swimmer William Ellard, made an MBE after winning gold in the S14 200m freestyle at the Paris Paralympics.
More than 1,200 people from across the UK received honours in the latest list.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
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