Sir George Young appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour
PM requested honour in recognition of Sir George Young's longstanding public service to the country.
The Queen has been pleased to appoint the Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt MP to the Order of the Companions of Honour.
The Prime Minister requested the honour be granted following the recent government reshuffle, in recognition of Sir George Young’s longstanding public service to the country.
Notes to editors
Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is conferred on people for recognised services of national importance, for a pre-eminent and sustained contribution in the arts, science, medicine or government.
It confers no Knighthood or other title or status, but recipients are entitled to use the post-nominal letters “CH”.
The Order was instituted in 1917 by George V at the same time as the Order of the British Empire was founded. The Order of CH consists of the Sovereign and 65 members.
Lord Michael Howard of Lympne CH PC QC was awarded the CH in June 2011; other recent members are Dame Judi Dench CH DBE, Sir Ian McKellen CH, CBE.
The Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt MP
Sir George Young first entered the House of Commons in 1974 as the Member for Ealing Acton before successfully standing for North West Hampshire in 1997, a seat he has held since.
Sir George’s first Front Bench position came in 1976, when he served as an Opposition Whip - a position he held until 1979.
Sir George was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Services, 1979-81; and the Department of Environment, 1981-86; before becoming a Government Whip in 1990.
Within the Department of Environment, Sir George served as Minister for Housing and Planning, 1990-93; and as Minister for Housing, Inner Cities and Construction, 1993-94.
He was appointed Financial Secretary, HM Treasury, 1994-95; before entering the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Transport, 1995-97.
In Opposition, Sir George was a member of the Shadow Cabinet between 1997 and 2000, serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, 1997-98; Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, 1998-99; Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1998-99; and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Constitutional Affairs, 1999-2000.
Having presided as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standards and Privileges Committee between 2001 and 2009, Sir George returned to the Conservative Front Bench in 2009 as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons 2009-10.
In May 2010, Sir George was appointed Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal - a position he held until September 2012.
Further to his Front Bench positions, Sir George continued his extemporary Parliamentary career. He was a member of the House of Commons Commission, 2009-12; of the Speaker’s Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, 2009-12; and a Member of the Public Accounts Commission, 2010-12.