New Year Honours list in full: All the people rewarded in 2020 for services to UK

Sir Elton John and Dame Olivia Newton-John head up a star-studded New Year Honours list as more than 1,000 people are recognised for their services  to the UK.

Bond film director Sam Mendes gets a knighthood while Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is being made a CBE – and quipped he will celebrate “Tommy Shelby-style”.

12 Years A Slave director Steve McQueen receives a knighthood for services to film while Billy Ocean, Snow Patrol lead singer Gary Lightbody and Joy Division album artist Peter Saville are all honoured.

Also honoured are some of the UK’s sporting heroes – including Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan after a bumper year for the world of cricket.

But more than two-thirds of those recognised are everyday heroes, community organisers, war veterans and charity campaigners – from the 13-year-old fundraiser to the 94-year-old D-Day veteran whose humility moved a BBC interviewer to tears.

Meanwhile, not all the appointments are without controversy. Iain Duncan Smith is handed a knighthood despite presiding over the disastrous rollout of six-in-one benefit Universal Credit.

So who is named in this year’s New Year Honours – and what is the full list?

We have all the highlights and details below. Scroll down for a full text list at the bottom of this article.

Famous names on the list

Elton John

Sir Elton John heads up the star-studded New Year Honours list after getting an upgrade to the Order of the Companions of Honour – the highest accolade.

Only 65 people at a time can hold the honour, and Sir Elton now joins the ranks of the elite. He was honoured, alongside historian Sir Keith Vivian Thomas, for services to music and charity.

Olivia Newton-John

Singer and actor Olivia Newton-John is made a Dame for services to charity, cancer research and entertainment.

The 71-year-old Australian singer and actress, who was born in Cambridge, immortalised the role of the goody-goody high school student who joins Rydell High  in Grease – and transforms into a sexy greaser in a bid to win the affections of love interest Danny Zuko, played by John Travolta. 

Newton-John’s career started when she formed a girl group with classmates called Sol Four at the age of 14, before winning a talent contest on Australian TV show Sing, Sing, Sing, bagging a trip to the UK. She went to the UK on the advice of her mother and, once there, she recorded her first single in 1966, Till You Say You’ll Be Mine.

To many others, Newton-John is better known as one of the leading figures in the fight against cancer as a prominent campaigner for research into the disease, having lived with it herself for many years.

Ben Stokes

England’s cricketing heroes, including Joe Root and Ben Stokes, are also recognised.

Cricket unsurprisingly features heavily in the sporting section of the 2020 honours after England’s first men’s Cricket World Cup victory last summer.

Off the back of the triumph, 28-year-old Stokes, the newly-crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year, will be given an OBE. But he misses out on a knighthood despite Boris Johnson backing one for him in the summer.

One-day international captain Eoin Morgan gets a CBE and teammates Root and Jos Buttler become MBEs.

Sam Mendes

Film-maker Sam Mendes – who is knighted – is best known for his acclaimed directorial debut, American Beauty, as well for his work on the James Bond franchise.

The 54-year-old is one of only a handful of directors to win the Best Director Oscar for their first feature film and won further plaudits for his work on two of Daniel Craig’s 007 movies.

His first, Skyfall, became the first Bond film to break the billion-dollar barrier at the box office.

Mendes was born in Reading to a Portuguese-Trinidadian father and a British Jewish mother, who divorced when he was three. He grew up near Oxford with his mother, who is the author of novels for young adults. 

Steve McQueen

British director Steve McQueen is known for his often gruelling films including 12 Years A Slave. He has been knighted in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas list for services to art and film.

He made history in 2014 when he became the first black filmmaker to win an Academy Award for best picture, one of many accolades during a still relatively young career.

Away from film, he is also the winner of the prestigious Turner Prize for his art work.

McQueen, 50, was born in west London to Grenadian parents. In a 2014 interview with the Guardian, he said he had a difficult experience throughout school, and at one point was put in a class with students teachers thought would grow up to be “plumbers and builders, stuff like that”. He was dyslexic and had to wear an eye-patch due to a lazy eye, and was “put to one side very quickly”.

Iain Duncan Smith

Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith- the architect of cruel welfare reforms including Universal Credit has been given a knighthood in the Queen’s New Years honours.

The former Tory leader resigned from his post as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions more than three years ago but many are still feeling the impact of his reforms.

Despite resigning in protest at then Chancellor George Osborne’s plans to cut disability benefits in 2016 he is largely blamed for many of the hated reforms.

His knighthood will anger those caught on the sharp side of his welfare reforms. IDS claimed his changes would simplify the benefits system and encourage people to find work but his reforms have left tens of thousands struggling to cope.

Alison Saunders

Other controversial honours include a Damehood for the former Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders.

She faced heavy criticism for presiding over several rape cases that collapsed as a result of the prosecution failing to disclose evidence.

She was snubbed by the committee last year – the first former head of the CPS to be overlooked but has now been honoured.

Ainsley Harriott

Ainsley Harriott, 62, has said he knows how proud his mother would have been at the news he has been recognised in the New Year Honours list.

The TV chef with a 30-year career has been made an MBE for services to broadcasting and to the culinary arts.

He said: “When I was first told about it, I immediately thought about my dear late mum – which really choked me up, because I know how proud she would have been, her boy’s proud too – it’s a great honour for me and for everyone who has helped me on my way.”

Nadiya Hussain

Nadiya Hussain, who rose to fame by winning the 2015 series of The Great British Bake Off, is made an MBE while chef and author Nigel Slater becomes an OBE for services to cookery and literature.

James Graham

Playwright James Graham, whose play of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? cheating scandal is being adapted for TV, received an OBE for services to drama and to young people in British theatre.

Graham, 37, is also known as a political dramatist, for works such as Westminster-based This House; The Vote, set in a polling station; and Brexit: The Uncivil War.

The Brexit drama starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Dominic Cummings, the strategist behind Vote Leave. Other credits include the film X + Y, about a young maths prodigy, and TV drama Coalition, on the rise of Nick Clegg.

Roger Taylor

Queen’s Roger Taylor, who has defined a generation of drummers with his bombastic, arena-filling sound, has been recognised in the New Year Honours list.

The musician, who has been made an OBE for services to music, may be best known for orchestrating the ubiquitous thuds of We Will Rock You, but Taylor has been many other things besides.

The 70-year-old, born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, has campaigned for awareness of Aids, launched a musical featuring Queen’s greatest hits and become one of the few living people to appear on a Royal Mail stamp.

Gary Lightbody 

The 43-year-old Snow Patrol frontman has been made an OBE for services to music and charity in Northern Ireland.His band’s 2006 hit single, Chasing Cars, became the most widely played song of the 21st century on radio. Lightbody is Snow Patrol’s only remaining founder member.

Steve Knight

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is being made a CBE – as his recent adaptation of A Christmas Carol on BBC One sparks controversy over its violent scenes. Knight is made a CBE for services to drama, entertainment and the community in Birmingham – the setting for Peaky Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy as hard-drinking gang leader Shelby. He told the PA news agency: “I celebrate Shelby-style every day – bottles of whiskey, cigarettes. No, I’m joking!”

Heroes who walk among us

72% of awards go to people who have undertaken “outstanding work in or for their local community.” There are far too many to write a story about each one – but here are a few that stand out.

The 13-year-old who raised thousands for charity

A 13-year-old boy who has raised thousands of pounds for charities is the youngest person on the New Year Honours list.

Ibrahim Yousaf, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the community after his work to raise funds for local causes.

The schoolboy, who won the British Citizen Youth Award earlier this year, began his charity work at the age of 12 when he donated his birthday money to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital charity.

In eight months, the teenager raised more than £1,300 for cancer support centre Maggie’s and has made more than £2,000 overall for causes including Oldham Foodbank, Dr Kershaw’s Hospice and the Oldham Mayor’s Charities.

He said: “I truly believe the real stars and the heroes are the charities and all I ask is for everyone to please follow and support them.”

The Holocaust survivors

Holocaust survivors have said their MBEs in the New Year’s Honours list will drive them to keep on educating young people to “appreciate each other’s faiths and beliefs”, and that it is possible to create success after hardship.

Mindu Hornick, 90, and John Paul Hajdu, 82, have both been honoured for their work in Holocaust education and commemoration.

Birmingham-based Ms Hornick, who works with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and the Anne Frank Trust, described the award as “an absolute surprise” while Mr Hajdu, of Muswell Hill, north London, said it had been “most unexpected”.

Gertrude Silman, 90, described her MBE for Holocaust education as a “very proud moment”. She is the honorary life president of the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association (HSFA) – a Leeds-based group which shares their experiences of the Holocaust with schools and various community groups.

The D-Day veteran who moved a nation saying there’s no glory in war

A D-Day veteran who moved a BBC interviewer to tears over the summer with his humility – and insistence there was no glory in war – has been made an MBE.

Harry Billinge, 94, said he would accept the honour not for himself but for the 22,442 service personnel who were killed on D-Day and during the battle for Normandy.

As an 18-year-old Royal Engineer, he landed on Gold Beach at 6.30am on June 6 1944 as part of the first wave of troops.

Speaking from his home, Mr Billinge, who also holds France’s highest award, the Legion d’Honneur, said: “I’m 94 and I only did what I did for the boys. I’m no brave man and I’m just an ordinary sapper, Royal Engineer Commando.

“I did my job and I didn’t want any glory. There’s no glory in war.

The Red Cross volunteer who supported Grenfell victims

A Red Cross volunteer who supported families bereaved in the Grenfell Tower fire has said she feels “overwhelmed” after being made an MBE for services to the charity.

Lady Angela Lamport, 67, has helped with the charity’s response to a number of national and international crises in addition to Grenfell since joining the organisation in 2003, the British Red Cross said.

Organisers have said they will not consider honours solely on the basis of involvement in the relief effort or the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy until the conclusion of the public inquiry, the second phase of which will start in January. Lady Angela, from Cobham in Surrey, said: “I still think of them every day.”

The couple who fostered 39 people

A couple who have fostered 39 people ranging from a day-old baby to a 27-year-old mother and her child have been honoured with MBEs.

For 18 years, Maureen and George Hughes’s home in Drighlington, Leeds, has provided warmth, food and love for young people who have had a hard start in life.

The couple, who are remarried, have five grown-up children between them and decided to offer other youngsters the chance of a normal family life.

Mrs Hughes, who is 58 and a full-time carer, said: “We had already got a crazy household and we thought we could help other children who were less fortunate.”

The gran who founded a charity in Ethiopia

A grandmother who co-founded a charity in Ethiopia with her cousin “burst into tears” after opening the letter which said they would both be made MBEs.

Jo Middlemiss and Maureen Burnett started the Ethiopia Medical Project (EMP) nine years ago after the latter came across a tiny clinic in Buccama while volunteering in the country.

The clinic helps patients suffering with severe uterine prolapse – often caused by carrying heavy loads or frequent pregnancies with little recovery time.

Staff had struggled to cope without enough food or medical supplies, but the grandmothers raised money for basic materials such as mattresses – and now hope to raise £25,000 annually through charity events and donations.

Ms Middlemiss, 71, from Kinross, said: “Opening the letter took me by surprise, it was a shock really and I just burst into tears.”

The man who escaped deportation aged 4

A 27-year-old man awarded an MBE for services to young people was moments away from being deported back to northern Cyprus as a four-year-old boy, he said.

Mete Coban, from Hackney in London, said his appearance in the New Year Honours list comes 22 years after border force officers arrived at his council estate home ready to send his family back.

The family – cab driver Ramsey, elderly care worker Aysen, and their three children – later won the right to stay.

The Elvis impersonator who raised £250k for charity

A hospital chaplain who has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds by performing as Elvis is All Shook Up after being honoured for his charity work.

The Rev Wynne Roberts, 58, from Anglesey, has received the British Empire Medal (BEM) for charitable services after raising about £250,000 since he began his Elvis tribute act six years ago.

The chaplain manager for the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board first tried on his Blue Suede Shoes to perform as the King when his late mother was in a nursing home with dementia.

Now he performs up to 100 shows a year to raise money for various charities, as well as continuing to sing for people in care homes, particularly those with dementia.

The mum who helps bereaved families after losing her baby and husband

A woman who lost her baby son and husband within days of each other has said she would return her MBE “in a heartbeart” if it would bring them back.

Rhian Mannings’s one-year-old son George died on February 22 2012 after he suffered a seizure at home. It was later discovered he had been suffering from pneumonia and Type A influenza.

Her husband Paul Burke, 33, took his own life five days later while suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Ms Mannings, who set up charity 2 Wish Upon A Star to help other bereaved families, said she is proud to be made an MBE in the New Year Honours but the recognition was “bitter sweet”.

The police officer who helps stop loneliness with a bench

Detective Sergeant Ash Jones, 49, becomes an MBE “for services to charity and to older people in South West England and South Wales”.

His chat bench project was launched in Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset to coincide with the UN World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in June and offers a solution to help relieve loneliness.

It encourages communities to adopt local benches as designated locations where anyone can stop and have a chat.

The idea has taken off across the world, with hundreds of chat benches being unveiled in Australia, Canada, the USA and Europe.

New Year Honours in numbers

A total of 1,097 people have received an award – the smallest New Year Honours list since 2012.

9.1% of successful candidates come from an ethnic minority, down from 12.0%, while 3.3% of recipients identified as being LGBT+, down from 5.0% in the 2019 list.

But the number with a disability is the highest ever recorded at 11%.

556 women are recognised in the honours list, representing just over half (50.7%) of the total. This is the second highest proportion of women recipients on a New Year Honours list. The highest on record is 51.0% in 2014.

941 candidates have received either a BEM, MBE or OBE: 315 the BEM, 397 the MBE and 229 the OBE. 

NEW YEAR HONOURS 2020: FULL LIST