Johnson critic Jeremy Wright knighted in Jubilee honours

Former attorney general Jeremy Wright, who called on Boris Johnson to resign on Monday, has been given a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

He is among six serving MPs and a former first minister at Stormont, Arlene Foster, to be recognised in the Platinum Jubilee list.

Ms Foster becomes a dame, along with Conservative former culture secretary Maria Miller and Labour's Nia Griffith.

Labour former Treasury chief secretary Stephen Timms is also knighted.

Her fellow Tories, Chris Skidmore and former MP David Harris, are made OBEs.

Days before he was named in the honours list, Mr Wright joined a growing number of voices calling for the prime minister to quit following Sue Gray's report on Partygate.

He said events in Downing Street had caused "real and lasting damage" to the government's authority and he had concluded "with regret" that Mr Johnson should go.

Mr Wright spent four years as attorney general, and another 12 months as culture secretary, leaving government when Boris Johnson entered Downing Street.

Arlene Foster led the main unionist party in Northern Ireland, the DUP, from 2015 to 2021. She was the first woman to hold the position and that of First Minister.

When the 2017 general election resulted in a hung parliament, she became a key figure.

Mrs Foster's DUP agreed to support Theresa May's minority administration in major votes but the pact broke down when the DUP opposed Mrs May's Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Maria Miller served as culture secretary and minister for women and equalities in the coalition government.

Stephen Timms chairs the Work and Pensions Select Committee. He held a number of ministerial posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was in the Cabinet from 2006 to 2007 as chief secretary to the Treasury.

In 2010, he survived an attempt to murder him at a constituency surgery in East Ham. Mr Timms was stabbed twice in the abdomen by an Islamist terrorist who was later jailed for life.

Nia Griffiths held a number of junior roles in the last Labour government, and has served as shadow Welsh secretary and shadow defence secretary.

She has been a prominent campaigner for women's and LGBT rights.

Away from politics, six UK officials who worked in Afghanistan during the evacuation prompted by the Taliban takeover last summer are included in the honours list.

Dr Martin Longden, who was Charge d'Affaires of the UK Mission to Afghanistan, becomes a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.

He was sent to Kabul in August as the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital, and spent two weeks in the city before carrying on his role in Doha in Qatar.

Deputy ambassador to the British Embassy in Kabul Alexander Pinfield, who stayed in Afghanistan until October 2021, has been made an OBE.

Others who were on the ground in the country who are honoured include development director at the embassy Andrew McCoubrey, consul general Katrina Johnson, senior overseas manager Jason Oliver, and the embassy's head of counter-terrorism Gemma Paolucci.

Last week the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee condemned the government's handling of the evacuation of Kabul, in particular former foreign secretary Dominic Raab and top civil servant Sir Philip Barton failing to return from holiday as Kabul fell.

MPs described this as showing a "fundamental lack of seriousness, grip or leadership at a time of national emergency".

But they were full of praise for "the personnel on the ground" who "implemented a chaotic policy to the best of their ability".

The Foreign Office said it was proud of the staff "who worked tirelessly on the ground" to help more than 15,000 people leave Afghanistan.

Nearly 20 people involved in the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow are recognised.

Lead negotiator for the UK Presidency Archibald Young and Nigel Topping, UK high-level climate action champion for Cop26, are both made Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George.

Separately, Euan Blair, founder and chief executive of the apprenticeship company Multiverse and son of former prime minister Tony Blair, is made an MBE for services to education.