London mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “truly humbled” to be awarded a knighthood in the King New Year’s honours list, announced on Monday (30).
Khan is currently serving an unprecedented third term at City Hall, having first been elected in 2016 when he became the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital city. He has been a politician for more than 20 years, having previously been the MP for Tooting in south London.
“I am truly humbled to have received a knighthood in the King’s New Year’s Honours,” Khan told Eastern Eye.
The 54-year-old has been recognised for his political and public service.
“I couldn’t have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I would one day be mayor of London. It’s the honour of my life to serve the city I love and I will continue to build the fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London that all of the capital's communities deserve,” he said.
As mayor, Khan is known for his initiatives that have made London more environmentally friendly, with support for children and building more social housing.
Foreign secretary David Lammy reflected on these achievements when he told Eastern Eye: “Sadiq has delivered free school meals for London’s kids, cleaned up the city’s polluted air and built record numbers of council homes.
“I’m so proud that Britain is a place where you can go from being the son of a bus driver on a council estate to being the first Muslim in cabinet, mayor of our great capital city and a knight of the realm.”
Ranil Jayawardena, who served as the Conservative MP for East Hampshire until the July general election, also received a knighthood for political and public service.
Ranil Jayawardena
Jayawardena, 38, held a number of roles under the previous Tory government, including as environment secretary under former prime minister Liz Truss.
He was also parliamentary under-secretary of state for international trade and served as deputy chairman of the Conservative party – both under former prime minister Boris Johnson.
Prior to his election to parliament, Jayawardena was a councillor, serving as deputy leader of the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane.
He combined his service in local government with working for Lloyds Banking Group. Jayawardena also has wide-ranging commercial experience from the pharmaceutical, construction, transport and leisure sectors.
He told Eastern Eye public service has always been “important to me and my family, it is important in my faith, and it is an opportunity to give back to community and country.
“I am deeply honoured to receive this knighthood from his majesty the King, marking my public service from local councillor to cabinet minister.
“To serve as the member of parliament for where I grew up, went to local state schools and live today with my family was an enormous privilege – and, being local, it was such a pleasure to work for many people who I have known since childhood.”
He added: “During my time as international trade minister, I worked to safeguard global supply chains during Covid-19 and negotiate new trade agreements. As environment secretary, I kicked off new efforts to combat water pollution. And, beyond politics, I have always been committed to supporting community initiatives and helping those who help others, particularly children and families.
“I would like to thank my family, my colleagues, and the people of North East Hampshire for their support over the past sixteen years. I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity to serve.”
Of the 1,203 awards made on the New Year’s honours list, 66 (five per cent) of recipients are of Asian heritage.
Among the awardees were doctors, politicians, educators, authors, community leaders, equality and diversity champions and philanthropists.
One of the prominent businessmen recognised for his achievements is Iceland chief executive Tarsem Singh Dhaliwal, recently ranked number 28 on Eastern Eye’s Asian Rich List 2025.
Tarsem Singh Dhaliwal
Dhaliwal – who was awarded an OBE - used to be a minority shareholder in Iceland Foods. He now owns nearly half the company, which saw his value rise from £120 million to £680m.
His connection with Iceland dates back 40 years; he joined the company as a trainee accountant in 1985, shortly after college. Dhaliwal worked at Iceland until 2001, leaving after the company was acquired by Big Food Group, which brought in new management.
However, he soon returned, teaming up with Malcolm Walker and other investors to buy back Iceland.
“I am deeply honoured to have received this award, considering that over 61 years ago, I was born in a small village in India called Bhamipura, which, at the time, had no electricity or running water,” Dhaliwal told Eastern Eye.
“I wish my mum and dad were alive to enjoy this recognition with me and the family. “However, it will go into the history books that a Dhaliwal from Bhamipura has an OBE.
"A huge thank you to everyone who has helped to make this happen.”
Seema Misra, one of the leading campaigners for justice for more than 900 sub-postmasters wrongfully prosecuted in the Post-Office Horizon scandal, received an OBE.
Seema Misra
The inquiry into the scandal, which former prime minister Rishi Sunak described as “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history”, concluded in December, with a report expected later this year.
Misra told Eastern Eye the OBE was not just for her, but for every single campaigner who has fought for justice and that it gives them all the determination to continue to fight to see those responsible face criminal investigations.
“This is definitely a collective award - each and every single postmaster played a part, and the general public, too, for the support they have and continue to give us,” said Misra.
“The fight is not over – this award will keep the story alive.”
Misra, 48, was wrongly imprisoned in 2010 after being accused of stealing £75,000 from her Post Office branch in Surrey, where she was the subpostmistress.
She was two months pregnant when she was jailed and said had she not been expecting her second child, she would have ended her own life “for sure”.
Now her son is 13 years old and Misra said it will be a “beautiful moment” when he accompanies her to Buckingham Palace to receive her award.
"He's very excited. He’s already asking if it happened during the weekday, if he will get time off school to attend.”
This year’s honours list which features a total of 591 women, representing 49 per cent of the total number of awardees.
Leena Nair, Chanel Global CEO, received a CBE for services to the retail and consumer sector.
Leena Nair
"I am deeply grateful for this profound honour. This recognition reinforces our commitment as a business to have a positive impact in the world. I am thankful to my passionate and dedicated teams whose contribution makes all this possible. It inspires me to continue striving for excellence and contributing to wider society. I hope it encourages others to break barriers and follow their dreams," Nair told Eastern Eye.
Last year she told Time magazine she was a “champion for gender balance” and said she wants to help men understand there is room for both genders in senior leadership positions.
Women should be encouraged to step up and be ambitious, Nair said, as she cited her parents as an inspiration and former Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi as a mentor.
“There are more women coming into education, more women topping classes and getting the best grades, and still not enough women in positions of leadership,” Nair, 54, told Time.
“So it takes courage, intentionality, and determination. You work on numbers, work on culture, and bring a sense of acceleration and urgency.”
Hina Bokhari is the co-founder of the Naz Legacy Foundation – named after he father Naz Bokhari – which seeks to continue his legacy by supporting young people throughout education while supporting positive integration into mainstream British society.
Hina Bokhari
She received an OBE for services to young people, to charity and to inter-faith relations
The 49-year-old also made history last May when she was named as the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly, making her the first ethnic minority woman to assume this role.
“To all the women of all backgrounds across London, I hope I can offer some hope that barriers are being broken and politics is becoming more representative of the society we live in,” said Bokhari.
She added, “When my father passed away in 2011, he left my brother and I a legacy, to make sure we improved the lives for the next generation. Naz Bokhari was an inspirational teacher and role model to many.
“We set up the Naz Legacy Foundation in his memory to mentor young people to contribute back to society. This award continues to remind me of his dedication and commitment to helping others and I accept it in his honour.”
On breaking down barriers for Muslim women like herself, she told The Independent: “You have to possess the resilience of a hundred tigers.
“Women generally find it tough in terms of these types of roles, but add the colour, the brown face, the faith, and it’s harder.”
Vascroft Contractors chief operating officer Chandni Vora was awarded an MBE for services to business and charity.
Chandni Vora
The 48-year-old is an advocate of female entrepreneurship and philanthropy, with a particular passion to support women and ethnic minorities in construction.
She also helps raise money for several charities. Last year she ran the London Marathon to raise funds for the charity Sewa UK, that supports railway runaway children in India who are from broken homes, suffered domestic abuse and trafficking.
As a member and volunteer of the Shree Kutchi Leva Patel Community UK she has engaged with the community to take on a number of trekking and adventure challenges to summit Snowdon, Scafell pike and Ben Nevis.
“I am deeply honoured and humbled to receive this award,” Vora told Eastern Eye.
“It is a privilege to be recognised for the work I have done throughout my 26-year working career as well as the association with the number of charities.
“This award belongs to everyone who has supported me throughout my journey, my family starting with my mentor my father for the grounded humble upbringing and number of challenges faced to be resilient and pick yourself up and carry on.
“The community and charities such as Asian Sports Foundation, Shree Kutchi Leva Patel Community, Sewa UK, One Kind Act, who have believed in me to ensure their work is shared widely and supported in whatever small capacity I am able to support in kind.
“I will continue with the work I conduct to ensure we as a community in business and charities create an inclusive cohesive society with the ethos of ‘Vasudev Kutumbakam’ society as one and progress together.”
Ushma Patel, the first lady of Gujarati origin to work at Downing Street as diary secretary to the prime minister, has been recognised with an OBE.
Ushma Patel
She previously received an MBE in 2015 for her combined services to charity and government. Since then, she has worked with four prime ministers, including Rishi Sunak. Patel said, “I am privileged and honoured to have been recognised for my diligent work especially during the challenging Covid period. I would like to thank the people I have
worked with and indeed for, who have nominated me for this award, I would also like to thank my family who have supported me throughout my career.”
Imtiaz Dharker
Poet Imtiaz Dharker, who was recognised with an OBE, said, “This came as a real surprise and I'm happy to accept it as an honour for poets and poetry in this country. In a time when discourse, especially political discourse, is devalued across the world, poetry has a powerful role to play.
“Poetry has always had a special place here. It's a kind of national language, the language of being human, whatever tongue it is in.”
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