Gavin Williamson knighted six months after losing cabinet job following exams fiasco

Gavin Williamson was knighted six months after losing cabinet job following exams fiasco. He was sacked as education secretary by Boris Johnson in the wake of the fiasco surrounding school exams during the Covid pandemic and a series of U-turns over free school meals policy. The MP had previously been sacked by Theresa May in 2019 after being blamed for a leak from the National Security Council. It is understood that the honour was a political award. Labour's Bridget Phillipson and Lib Dem education spokesperson Munira Wilson are outraged by the knighthood. They say it shows contempt for children and education staff.

Gavin Williamson knighted six months after losing cabinet job following exams fiasco. He was a former fireplace salesman and was an aide to David Cameron and the Chief Whip of Theresa May. As defence secretary he was criticised for Huawei's involvement in 5G and for saying Russia should "go away and shut up" after Salisbury poisoning. In the summer of 2020 he forced into a last-minute U-turn on plans to use algorithms to determine A-level results of pupils unable to take exams.