The Voice

Floella Benjamin joins the Order of Merit

By | Sun 13th November 2022 - 1:30 pm

Many congratulations to Liberal Democrat peer Floella Benjamin on being appointed to the prestigious Order of Merit, one of the country’s highest honours which is in the personal gift of the sovereign. It is particularly poignant that she and the other five people appointed this weekend were chosen by the late Queen in early September just before she died.

The Royal Family’s website gives the history of the Order of Merit:

The Order of Merit, founded in 1902 by King Edward VII, is a special mark of honour conferred by the Sovereign on individuals of exceptional distinction in the armed forces, science, arts, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Appointments to the Order are in the Sovereign’s personal gift. The Order is restricted to 24 members.

Floella responded on Twitter to the many messages of congratulation she received:

One such message was from Joan Armatrading:

Floella was on Saturday Kitchen two weeks ago as part of the BBC’s 100th anniversary celebrations. She talked about her life, career and fighting for diversity and representation. It is well worth a watch here.

Read more by or more about .
This entry was posted in Op-eds.
Advert

2 Comments

  • Geoff Reid 14th Nov '22 - 2:50pm

    “Pushing for diversity and inclusion….” Floella is a natural fit for the Lib Dem benches in the Lords. Politicians of various parties should be applauded for so doing but for Liberal Democrats it is very much integral to our first base so-to-speak. As a republican, sceptical of a plethora of honours, I am very happy to salute Floella in being awarded the OM. It is amongst the most credible of all national awards.

  • David Garlick 14th Nov '22 - 3:22pm

    My kids, now in their 40’s) loved Floella and so did we parents. Little dreamed then that this honour would be so rightly given.
    Lots of RESPECT.
    Go Floella!

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • peter Wigley
    @Caractacus. Yes we need policies on all the things you mention but, we also need an easily recognisable identity: what is the party for? (Or maybe who is the p...
  • Margaret
    It's a few years ago now, but I remember having a problem with a car we had hired in Alaska, and having a long argument with a call-handler somewhere in the 'lo...
  • Caracatus
    The thing is we can have lower taxes (for most) and better public services. The madness of the lost war on drugs which cost billions. Sorting social care, th...
  • paul barker
    Can London build its way out of this crisis ? Londons population has gone up by more than half since the 90s & all the "Plans" are for it to go up more. Lo...
  • Steve Nash
    I agree with KP that the International Aid and diplomatic Budget should increased, to challenge both Immigration and the need for Defence. It may not be the ch...