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Actors Idris Elba, Meera Syal, Bill Bailey and Cynthia Erivo are among the stars to have received New Year honours, while the chief executives of Sainsbury’s and National Grid were also given recognition in the 2026 list.
Syal, known for her roles in the hit TV comedies Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42, was awarded a damehood for her services to literature, drama and charity. She has been a long-standing campaigner for research and support for those with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Meanwhile Elba, famed for his roles in The Wire and Luther, was awarded a knighthood for his services to young people in Greater London. Elba has campaigned to reduce knife crime in the capital, including producing a documentary on the subject for the BBC which aired this year.
Stand-up comedian and musician Bailey, who starred as Manny in the sitcom Black Books, was awarded a knighthood for his services to entertainment.
Erivo, who starred in the Broadway production The Color Purple, and more recently as Elphaba in the Wicked films, has become a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Recipients of the nearly 1,200 awards also included Amanda Pritchard, the former chief executive of NHS England, which was abolished last March, as well as former Labour MP and former international development minister Anneliese Dodds. Both received damehoods.
Pritchard resigned from NHS England in February just a few weeks before Wes Streeting scrapped the organisation, bringing it under the control of the health department. Meanwhile, Dodds resigned her ministerial post in protest at Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to fund a £6bn defence spending increase by slashing the UK’s aid budget.
Richard Harpin, founder and chair of repair and insurance company HomeServe and longtime donor to the Conservatives, and Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and a former Labour MP, were also awarded knighthoods.
Other business figures to receive honours included: Ian King, former chief executive of defence group BAE Systems; Simon Roberts, chief executive of supermarket chain Sainsbury’s; John Pettigrew, the outgoing chief executive of National Grid; and Gary Hoffman. former chair of Monzo Bank and football’s Premier League. They all become Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBEs).
Sarina Wiegman, the Dutch manager of the Lionesses, England’s women’s national football team, was awarded an honorary damehood because she is not a British national. Leah Williamson, captain of the team, was awarded a CBE, while other team members Alex Greenwood, Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone were all awarded MBEs.
The Lionesses have been credited with driving a surge in support for women’s football across Britain in recent years. They won the Uefa Women’s championship in 2022 and won again this year.
British ice dance champions Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill were also awarded a knighthood and damehood respectively.
Daniel Levy, former executive chair of Tottenham Hotspur football club, also received a CBE, while Stuart Pringle, chief executive of Silverstone, the circuit that hosts the British Grand Prix in Formula 1 car racing, received an Order of the British empire (OBE).
Jonathan Ashworth, former Labour shadow minister who now runs the Labour Together think-tank, was awarded a CBE for political service and for his advocacy work on behalf of children of alcoholics.
Ashworth told the Financial Times he was “bowled over” by the honour, adding that supporting children of alcoholics “is a cause I’m deeply committed to after I lost my own dad to drink abuse 15 years ago”.
“I hope this honour helps shine a light on how we need to do so much more to support and help every one impacted by addiction problems,” he said.
Nominations for New Year honours can be made by any member of the public.
The Cabinet Office said 50 per cent of all recipients of honours at and above CBE level this year had been awarded to women, while 10 per cent were given to those from ethnic minority backgrounds.