THE Queen has approved a knighthood for former education secretary Gavin Williamson, Downing Street has said.
A statement from No 10 read: “The Queen has been pleased to approve that the honour of Knighthood be conferred upon The Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP.”
Williamson was heavily criticised during his time as education secretary, facing numerous calls to resign before he was eventually sacked last year.
READ MORE: Gavin Williamson 'likes' tweet saying he's rubbish at his job
He was also sacked from his role in the Ministry of Defence by Theresa May over the leaking of National Security Council information on Huawei’s involvement in the 5G network.
Despite the controversies, it was reported last year that Williamson would be appearing on Johnson’s next honours list.
Williamson had previously been described as a “master of the dark arts” after spending time in the chief whip role.
The Sunday Times reported earlier this year that he has knowledge of skeletons in Johnson’s closet, having run his successful 2019 leadership campaign.
As well as making a multitude of gaffes in the media – including confusing poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford and Rugby star Maro Itoje – Williamson provoked anger when it emerged that he allegedly had a Christmas party at the Department of Education in December 2020, when Covid rules were in place. The department admitted that it “would have been better” not to have held the event.
READ MORE: Gavin Williamson: UK got Pfizer vaccine first because it's a much better country
The former minister also oversaw England’s 2020 exam results chaos, in which up to 2.3 million grades were overturned and thousands of pupils were left in limbo regarding their university options.
Number 10, asked why the knighthood was being announced now and not part of an honours list, said it was a political appointment by the Conservative Party.
Reacting to the news, Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting tweeted: “Reward for failure. Shameless.”
Meanwhile, the head of a major education union expressed surprise at Williamson’s knighthood.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “School and college leaders will be surprised to learn that Gavin Williamson has been given a knighthood.
“The challenges of the pandemic and the implications for education would have been challenging for any education secretary, and this needs to be recognised.
“But the experience of schools and colleges of Mr Williamson during his tenure as education secretary was one of endless muddle, inevitable U-turns, and even threats of legal action to override local decisions.
“This was not all Mr Williamson’s fault. The hand of Downing Street was detectable amidst the chaos too.
“However, many parents will share our surprise that his record in this role warrants the conferring of a knighthood.”
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