Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many honours, by each award level, were received in each (1) region, and (2) nation of the UK in the New Year Honours 2026; and what percentage of the population of each such (1) region, and (2) nation that number represents.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Statistical information held in relation to the regional breakdown of all 1157 recipients for the King’s New Year Honours List 2026 can be found below. Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal point. Data for CBE and higher levels has been aggregated and is also included below. Data reflects the correspondence address provided by recipients.
Data is collected using city/town and county, then aggregated into regional figures at the time that the recipients were sounded for an award, not when they were originally nominated. There were 14 individuals who noted their location as South Yorkshire in the King’s New Year Honours List 2026 List, 2 of which were above OBE level. There were 0 individuals who noted their location as Sheffield.
Information on the number of nominations by mayoral authority in South Yorkshire is not captured, as we are unable to break down the data in that way. However, of those who listed their location as South Yorkshire, 3 individuals received an award above MBE level.
42 recipients of honours in the King’s New Year Honours List 2026 have received honours in previous lists.
This data relates only to the main Prime Minister’s List and does not include data from the Defence List or the Overseas and International List, which are not administered by the Cabinet Office.
Transparency data for the list by county, the level of award received and the service for which each recipient has been recognised, as well as information on recipients recognised in previous honours lists, is publicly available on gov.uk.
Honours are awarded on merit basis. A key aim of the honours system is to ensure that it is more representative of the country as a whole and we will continue to encourage more nominations from every corner of the UK, including South Yorkshire, in future honours lists.
There are currently 62 living recipients of the Companion of Honour. Data is collected using the region that the recipient gave as their correspondence address when the honour was originally awarded, therefore current address data for recipients prior to the King’s New Year Honours List 2026 round is not held. There were no recipients of the Companion of Honour on the King’s New Year Honours List 2026.
Region | BEM | BEM% | MBE | MBE% | OBE | OBE% | CBE & Higher | CBE & higher% | Total | % of the total NY26 list living in each region | % of UK population |
East | 28 | 8.8% | 36 | 7.4% | 21 | 9.4% | 11 | 8.7% | 96 | 8.3% | 9.5% |
East Midlands | 12 | 3.8% | 22 | 4.5% | 9 | 4.0% | 7 | 5.5% | 50 | 4.3% | 7.3% |
London | 28 | 8.8% | 89 | 18.2% | 58 | 25.9% | 42 | 33.1% | 217 | 18.8% | 13.0% |
North East | 9 | 2.8% | 14 | 2.9% | 6 | 2.7% | 1 | 0.8% | 30 | 2.6% | 4.0% |
North West | 31 | 9.8% | 44 | 9.0% | 17 | 7.6% | 5 | 3.9% | 97 | 8.4% | 11.0% |
Northern Ireland | 20 | 6.3% | 25 | 5.1% | 6 | 2.7% | 4 | 3.1% | 55 | 4.8% | 2.8% |
Scotland | 25 | 7.9% | 56 | 11.5% | 22 | 9.8% | 11 | 8.7% | 114 | 9.9% | 8.0% |
South East | 47 | 14.8% | 54 | 11.0% | 41 | 18.3% | 22 | 17.3% | 164 | 14.2% | 14.0% |
South West | 34 | 10.7% | 37 | 7.6% | 15 | 6.7% | 11 | 8.7% | 97 | 8.4% | 8.5% |
Wales | 18 | 5.7% | 38 | 7.8% | 8 | 3.6% | 3 | 2.4% | 67 | 5.8% | 4.6% |
West Midlands | 38 | 12.0% | 33 | 6.7% | 9 | 4.0% | 1 | 0.8% | 81 | 7.0% | 8.9% |
Yorkshire & Humberside | 27 | 8.5% | 39 | 8.0% | 10 | 4.5% | 8 | 6.3% | 84 | 7.3% | 8.2% |
Living abroad | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 0.4% | 2 | 0.9% | 1 | 0.8% | 5 | 0.4% | - |
Total | 317 | 100% | 489 | 100% | 224 | 100% | 127 | 100% | 1157 | 100% | - |