The honours system used to be too posh but I'm proof change is happening

The honours system used to be too posh but I'm proof change is happeningImage source, Jacquelyn StanleyImage caption, Clive Lawrence has been part of a drive to widen access to the honours systemBySean CoughlanRoyal correspondentPublished4 minutes ago"I always had the perception that you only got an honour if you were rich or famous," says Clive Lawrence.His start in life had been free school meals and growing up on a council estate in Derbyshire, but the former head teacher has now been made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE).He's part of a quiet revolution in the honours system, which has deliberately sought to make the awards less socially exclusive and to have a fairer spread of winners around the country.That change followed an analysis by the BBC last year of the New Year Honours in 2025 which showed that among higher winners - such as Commanders of the British Empire (CBE), knighthoods and damehoods - only 4% of recipients had grown up in working class backgrounds.Cabinet Office figures for the New Year Honours 2026 show that for higher awards that has now risen to 31%, a record level.Are top honours winners too posh and too southern?Published9 February 2025King Charles awards first rugby league knighthoodPublished10 June 2025Honours system gets new role to make awards more inclusivePublished4 August 2025Across all levels of honours at New Year 2026, 38% of recipients were from working class backgrounds, matching the national figure of 37%.These are record levels of awards for people from less wealthy backgrounds - and more than double the amount from five years ago.The gap has also narrowed in the share of awards between London and the rest of the country, according to data from the Birthday honours, published last week.The mechanism for change has been the Honours Diversity and Outreach Committee, created last year with the job of making the awards better reflect UK society.Lawrence is part of this new committee, which is encouraging...