Former education and defence secretary Gavin Williamson is to receive a knighthood, it has been announced. The news was greeted with a mixture of bemusement, mockery and anger on social media.
Williamson was sacked from the cabinet by Prime Minister Boris Johnson last September, having been widely criticised for his handling of the English education system during the coronavirus pandemic. Exams, in particular, were badly disrupted.
The announcement has prompted more criticism of the honours system, and of the government for alleged cronyism. But why has Gavin Williamson been given a knighthood - and what do you have to do to get one?
