Boris Johnson has handed a knighthood to his former Education Secretary Gavin Williamson - despite his catalogue of blunders.
He was one of the first to get the sack when Mr Johnson reshuffled his top team in September but his loyalty to the Prime Minister appears to have been rewarded.
The news that the gaffe-prone Tory, who has been sacked twice from Cabinet jobs, had been nominated for the honour sparked surprise and fury.
Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson branded his handling of schools during the pandemic "disgraceful".
“Gavin Williamson left children to go hungry, created two years of complete chaos over exams and failed to get laptops out to kids struggling to learn during lockdowns," she said.
And Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said: "This is a classic example of being promoted upwards for failure - keep failing upwards."
Mr Williamson's cabinet career has been littered with blunders and odd comments. Here are some of the highlights.
Marcus Rashford mix-up
Man United footballer Marcus Rashford was a perennial thorn in the Government's side during the pandemic with his campaign to feed hungry kids.
The England international, who relied on free school meals as a children, forced Boris Johnson into repeated U-turns over the policy in 2020.
The Government was criticised for failing to engage properly with Rashford - and Mr Williamson made it even worse by mixing up the footballer with another famous black sportsman, the rugby player Maro Itoje.
On Rashford, Mr Williamson told the Evening Standard: "We met over Zoom and he seemed incredibly engaged, compassionate and charming but then he had to shoot off.
"I didn’t want to be the one that was holding him back from his training."
But Mr Williamson's team later clarified he had in fact spoken to rugby player Maro Itoje - who campaigned for millions of kids to get access to laptops during lockdown.
Rashford laughed it off - and tweeted, “Accent could have been a giveaway", referring to his Mancunian upbringing.
Itoje also tweeted: "Due to recent speculation I thought it was necessary to confirm that I am not Marcus Rashford… And whilst we are here my name is not Mario either!!
"Just a simple Maro Itoje will do… Much love, Marcu… I mean Maro Itoje."
Forgetting his A-Level results
Mr Williamson declared it was an "absolute delight" to find out his A Level grades in August 2021 - but then claimed he didn't remember them.
"I didn't get three A*s, it's fair to say," he told LBC.
"I have forgotten, it is so long ago. It is 27 years ago.
"You probably can't remember what was happening last weekend."
Exams chaos
One of Mr Williamson's most difficult moments as Education Secretary was the exams chaos in August 2020 when thousands of students had their marks downgraded by a computer algorithm.
Amid a ferocious public backlash, he did a U-turn and said pupils could use teacher-assessed grades instead.
He claimed he only realised "over the weekend" that there were major flaws in the system - despite warnings from MPs and Sir Jon Coles, a former director-general at the Department for Education.
The pointless school closures battle
In December 2020, Mr Williamson started a major row with schools trying to shut early for Christmas as Covid cases rocketed.
He threatened legal powers against a Greenwich council which advised headteachers to close early for the holidays.
But the row was futile as all schools were shut after one day in January, as Covid cases soared.
Telling Russia to 'shut up'
Mr Williamson was nicknamed “Private Pike” by officials during his time as Defence Secretary - after the Dad’s Army character.
He made headlines when he declared that Russia should "go away and should shut up" in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attack in 2018.
Asked about expulsion of Russian diplomats following the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, Mr Williamson said: "What we will do is we will look at how Russia responds to what we have done.
“It is absolutely atrocious and outrageous what Russia did in Salisbury. We have responded to that.
“Frankly, Russia should go away and should shut up.”
Sacked over national security leaks
Theresa May sensationally sacked him as Defence Secretary in 2019 after top secret information was leaked from the National Security Council.
The then-Prime Minister pointed the finger at Mr Williamson when reports emerged about the involvement of Chinese tech giant Huawei in the UK's 5G network.
In a dismissal letter, Ms May said there was "compelling evidence suggesting your responsibility for the unauthorised disclosure".
"No other, credible version of events to explain this leak has been identified," she added.
But Mr Williamson insisted he was not behind the revelations.
Heckled by his own phone
In 2018, his attempt to give a serious statement about the fight against ISIS was undermined when he was interrupted by his own mobile phone.
As he delivered the update to MPs, the familiar voice of artificial intelligence assistant, Siri, appeared to say: “Hi Gavin, I found something on the web for: ‘in Syria, democratic forces supported by…”
Speaker John Bercow interrupted, saying: “What a rum business that is.”
Mr Williamson replied: ‘I’m not sure what caused that intervention, but I do apologise for that.
“It is very rare that you’re heckled by your own mobile phone, but on this occasion it is a new parliamentary convention, without a doubt.”
Joking about a 'sharpened carrot'
Mr Williamson served as Chief Whip from 2016 to 2017, acting as a party enforcer and famously scaring MPs with his pet tarantula.
The spider was named Cronus, after the titan in Greek mythology who came to power by castrating his own father before eating his own children to stop them from ousting him.
Mr Williamson used a party conference speech to warn unruly MPs that he took a “carrot and stick” approach to discipline in the Commons.
In a deeply weird moment, he added: “I don't very much believe in the stick, but it's amazing what can be achieved with a sharpened carrot.”
The unexpected affair confession
In January 2018, the top Tory admitted to cheating on his wife in 2004 when he was working at a fireplace manufacturer in Yorkshire.
The pair “shared a kiss a couple of times” but the relationship “never went further”, he claimed.
His unexpected confession sparked speculation that he was clearing out skeletons from his closet to prepare for a Tory leadership bid.
