The honours system used to be too posh but I'm proof change is happening

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. The honours system used to be too posh but I'm proof change is happeningImage source, Jacquelyn StanleyImage caption, Clive Lawrence has been part of a drive to widen access to the honours systemBySean Coughlan Royal correspondentPublished33 minutes ago"I always had the perception that you only got an honour if you were rich or famous," says Clive Lawrence. His start in life had been free school meals and growing up on a council estate in Derbyshire, but the former head teacher has now been made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE). He's part of a quiet revolution in the honours system, which has deliberately sought to make the awards less socially exclusive and to have a fairer spread of winners around the country.

That change followed an analysis by the last year of the New Year Honours in 2025 which showed that among higher winners - such as Commanders of the British Empire (CBE), knighthoods and damehoods - only 4% of recipients had grown up in working class backgrounds. Cabinet Office figures for the New Year Honours 2026 show that for higher awards that has now risen to 31%, a record level. Are top honours winners too posh and too southern?

The Details

Published9 February 2025King Charles awards first rugby league knighthood Published10 June 2025Honours system gets new role to make awards more inclusive Published4 August 2025Across all levels of honours at New Year 2026, 38% of recipients were from working class backgrounds, matching the national figure of 37%. These are record levels of awards for people from less wealthy backgrounds - and more than double the amount from five years ago. The gap has also narrowed in the share of awards between London and the rest of the country, according to data from the Birthday honours, published last week.

The mechanism for change has been the Honours Diversity and Outreach Committee, created last year with the job of making the awards better reflect UK society. Lawrence is part of this new committee, which is encouraging a wider range of nominations. A member from this diversity committee sits on each of the other committees that sift through names that have been put forward.

He says awards should be for "everyday people doing extraordinary things" - and his own OBE was for his work in education, where he particularly focused on helping children with special needs. The quality of those receiving honours has to remain as high, he says, but there needs to be an overall picture of more even representation. Image source, PA MediaImage caption, There had never been a rugby league player knighted until Sir Billy Boston last yearWhile the press focuses on celebrity award winners, Lawrence says he was glad to showcase people like Michael Akers a "young lad with a disability...

who set up a charity advocating for other children". Akers, made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) last month, has a speech disability and has campaigned for schools to provide access to speech therapists.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.