Rishi Sunak has finally approved the honor roll for Boris Johnson’s resignation, which also includes appointments for Tory MPs and a senior official who worked at Downing Street during the partygate scandal.
The former prime minister has nominated several senior Conservative MPs who are his allies. Jacob Rees-Mogg, Conor Burns and Simon Clarke were knighted, while Priti Patel and Andrea Jenkyns were made dame.
Johnson also nominated Martin Reynolds, who hosted a ‘bring your own booze’ gathering in the Downing Street garden during a Covid lockdown in 2020 as Chief of Cabinet, as Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, who has questions about regeneration projects in his area, was nominated for a peerage.
The roll of honor was published on Friday, shortly after Tory MP and Johnson ally Nadine Dorries announced she would be leaving the House of Commons. Her move has triggered a by-election in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency that is likely to give Sunak a headache.
While Dorries won a majority of 24,664 votes in her constituency in the last general election, by-elections can cause a stir. Another Conservative majority of more than 24,000 was overthrown by the Liberal Democrats in a by-election in Tiverton and Honiton last June.
An agreement on Johnson’s dismissal was honorably reached after months of bickering between the former and current prime ministers’ teams.
